New Year New Opportunities

Welcome to 2023: a year that, like its recent predecessors, will have its very own signature.

That combination of continuing market changes (think price), challenges (think interest rates plus inflationary pressure) and beauty (or opportunity, as I like to call it).

I’m curious about the year ahead. We have an election, always interesting, given its potential to hamper major decision-making at both an individual and a national level, and we have that vacuum created when everyone is trying to pick the bottom of the market and the likelihood of an upswing.

Which, I might add, will eventually happen, as it has every other time there’s been a slump in activity – repositioning, as some industry experts like to describe the current market.

Last year, at about this time, I looked at my very old and battered crystal ball hoping for some sort of insight befitting my now 29-year tenure.

I noted that experts were at odds, with opinions that ranged from a 4% decrease in prices across the board to others thinking that the astronomical gains of the 2020/’21 period could continue. In retrospect, it looks like no-one realised the depth of the correction we would go on to experience – or the level of zeal the Reserve Bank would bring to the country with its ‘stop spending’ and ‘beware the property market is unsustainable’ mandate.

Frequent increases in our OCR levels, interest rate rises (with more to come) have all but brought to a halt that runaway horse we were riding, one which had indulged itself on huge increases in property values, cheap money and eyewatering auction clearance rates.

So where are we going?

A lot of the dialogue is once again mixed, so maybe rather than look at data (which can be confusing no matter how experienced you are) I’d prefer to look at opportunities that are being created.

I’m thinking about you, buyers!

You are the lucky ones in this orbit of the marketing cycle.

Do not squander your chances while standing on the side-line thinking, I’ll wait it out, I’ll squeeze every last ounce of opportunity out of the seller.

You have so much on your side, especially choice, that most exquisite of factors which over the last few years has been such a rarity.

There are large numbers of properties on or coming to the market. On December 19th, 2022, there were 1,917 Christchurch homes for sale.

Owners are also more educated as to prices now, many doing their best with both their presentation and their negotiation opportunities, and you, our dedicated buyers, have the chance to lock in your interest rate.

Make the decision to buy and get on, or further up, the property ladder, because you certainly have that chance.

It’s perhaps a fact of human nature that even when you have everything you could possibly want, you’ll still go for more. That’s the dilemma I’ve seen with some buyers as they challenge prices, even those that are vastly reduced, whilst insisting on extra chattels to be included in the sale. Rather than the property, we’re talking fridges, spas, trampolines and cushions.

But there’s a flipside here. Recently (January 5th, 2023), CoreLogic noted that although there’s been a nationwide drop in prices, slowing in December, Christchurch bucked the trend (the only main centre to do so).

Here’s the clincher: Christchurch is an incredibly affordable city with attractive lifestyle options, so despite everything that’s happening we are still fortunate here.

With that, I’m keen to make the most of what’s ahead. I’ve planned a massive year prioritizing health and wellbeing, doing great business and hopefully getting out of my comfort zone.

Is this the time to get out of yours?