Property Price Christchurch

[ple60]

I was at Christchurch recently looking around.

I quite like the university area ie Ilam, Burnside, Riccarton etc

I understand property values there is high as it is near university & the zoning for good schools etc

When is the best season to buy in new zealand?

Is there any difference say between spring & winter?

Could property price still drop further?

[Super_BQ]

When is the best season to buy in new zealand?

Is there any difference say between spring & winter?

Best as in lowest price? The problem with property sales in NZ is typically, the summer months is when you get the best selection of homes for sale. When winter time comes, most of the listings drop off for various reasons. I hate to make this link but NZ still has a fair % of leaky houses and quite typically, the winter time is usually the worse time of the year to sell such places. If you really want to assess how cold and damp a house would be, you view it during the winter months.

Could property price still drop further?

It depends what you get. I've spoken to some that are rushing to sell homes now because of the uncertainty of the tax proposals by government. Landlords know that what ever loop hole they took advantage in the NZ tax system will soon be blocked. (better cash up)

Though it could be argued that the proposed rise in GST and changes to negative gearing in real estate would increase property prices, I myself find this hard to believe in the current economic environment. High unemployment to perhaps stagflation would place strong resistance to rising house prices. Of course they could always lax immigration requirements for wealthy migrants coming to NZ.

You'll probably find prices to be relatively flat throughout this year.