How much was $800,000 NZD in 2008?

[God-Man]

In the middle of 2008, was $800,000 NZD a lot of money for a house? Would we be talking about a rich family living there, or "average", or what?

Thanks.

[IanW99]

In the middle of 2008, was $800,000 NZD a lot of money for a house? Would we be talking about a rich family living there, or "average", or what?

Thanks.

The median house price in March 2008 was $349,000, so $800,000 would normally be for a very decent house.

It would depend on the region e.g. Auckland median was $437,500.

Not sure that you could say too much about the occupants though, but would have to say above average.

BTW, IIRC some state houses are worth more than $800,000 and the families living in them would definitely not be considered rich.

Ian

[God-Man]

Ah, thanks for the reply. I should specify that I'm wondering about a house on Waiheke Island (Auckland area).

[Super_BQ]

If you think $800K is worth a lot, think again. The problem with the world economic recession is the onset of inflation that is due to come in a big wave - because every developed nation in the world has devalued their currency by printing $.

There's not many places to hold any savings. Sitting funds in a bank collecting term deposit interest may be the last place to be beat inflation.

If you don't understand inflation, you could look at each country's minimum wage. US is a lot less than NZ's $12.50/hr. Therefore you can't just simply compare an $800K house in the US to an $800K house in NZ as the buying power is a world apart different.

BQ

[JandM]

The OP doesn't sound as if he's asking about dollar equivalence or inflation, Super BQ...??? It reads to me more like trying to suss out from the information available (i.e. the 2008 price) what kind of house it is someone has told him about.

[Duncan74]

From my thick northerner blunt view, then looking on www.realestate.co.nz then $800k is way up there on the scale. $500k will buy a nice 3-4 bed place in most places. That's at present and in 18 months then there won't have been an order of magnitude shift.

$800k may be average for that area, but not for NZ. Logically, with an average wage of circa $65k then you can see that a couple on average wage couldn't get a mortgage for that sort of figure.

[Super_BQ]

The OP doesn't sound as if he's asking about dollar equivalence or inflation

Sorry if i've gone overboard. Re-reading his OP and going by his location (Southern California), it appears he's trying to get a guage on price change on a house from 1 year to another. So simply, inflation would be the issue as house prices and inflation normally move hand in hand. Of course my assumption could be wrong, he could be living in NZ and just wants to know how much $800K can buy? But then again, Waiheke Island? It's mostly wealthy migrants that live there?

[batgirl1001]

In Auckland, a $800 house would be considered above average and yes like Duncan74 said, $500+ in Auckland would get you the average 3-4 room house in a decent suburb right now.

For Waiheke Island, there is a range of choices from bachs to palatial, grand homes. There are multiple million dollar properties on Waiheke so for $800 you can expect to be near the upper crust range but not quite there yet.

[JandM]

I was guessing he had some info put together 18 months ago about a house, and was trying to tell from that info what kind of house it might be, and what kind of people would live there.

I shall now go off and write a story using this scenario!

[God-Man]

Thanks a lot for the replies. Yeah, what I was getting at was what JandM said:

It reads to me more like trying to suss out from the information available (i.e. the 2008 price) what kind of house it is someone has told him about.