Property · Building · Design
Former BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander has offered 25 reasons for New Zealand’s soaring house prices. Meanwhile, Sydney-based political commentator Ross Stitt has offered other explanations after comparing property market trends in Australia and New Zealand. How do their views differ when they look at the issue from different perspectives?
Amid the many crises brought about by the pandemic, people who have lost their jobs are looking for a different path and opportunities of their own. Many people returning to New Zealand are also actively seeking new directions. Perhaps this explains the recent activity in the business sales market.
China has announced that it will tax Chinese people worldwide. As a Chinese person living and working in New Zealand, how can you pay tax in a way that complies with both countries’ laws? How can you remain compliant without losing income you are entitled to keep? Let us clarify some common concerns and easily confused issues.
As we all know, the spread of coronavirus has dealt a huge blow to the global economy, with effects that are difficult to quantify. According to the World Bank's June 2020 Global Economic Prospects report, economic activity in advanced economies was expected to contract by 7% in 2020, as domestic demand, supply, trade and finance suffered severe disruption.
When New Zealand first went into nationwide lockdown because of COVID-19, the economy entered a downturn and economists predicted that property would be the first market to crash. By last week, Westpac's latest economic bulletin was predicting that house prices would rise by a further 8% next year. This market seems unaffected by theory or reality, global or domestic conditions, politics or people's livelihoods. It simply keeps surging ahead, breaking historical records along the way.
The unpredictable course of the pandemic has put many people under financial pressure. Some households that own or rent larger homes are considering renting out one or more rooms to supplement their income. But do you need to pay tax when you take in people at home?
Many people will have heard or repeated the saying: when God closes a door, he opens a window. In 2020, a year full of uncertainty, do you also want to open a window as you face employment and financial pressures? We cannot say for certain that this is a good time to go into business, but it is at least a worthwhile option in these times.
In its August Monetary Policy Statement, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand listed negative interest rates—lowering the OCR below 0%—as a monetary policy option and further clarified its intention to implement them.
Although New Zealand's 2020 general election has been postponed until 17 October because of a renewed COVID-19 outbreak, the intensive election campaign has already given the public a full view of the parties' future policies. Clearly, both major parties are focusing their economic recovery plans on infrastructure investment. What impact will that investment have on the property market?
Unlike heating and ventilation, insulation, moisture ingress and drainage, and draught stopping—the other key areas of the healthy homes standards—are often overlooked. Today's final instalment offers practical advice on each of these standards.
Auckland has just been through another Level 3 lockdown. Industry professionals still vividly remember the temporary disruption the previous lockdown caused to New Zealand's property market. How has Auckland's market performed this time?
As the pandemic ebbs and flows, people's working lives, home lives and even moods rise and fall with it. In 2020, when everything has become uncertain, there seems to be just one constant in New Zealand that keeps defying authoritative forecasts: continually rising house prices.