A wider lens, brought home!
September has been an unusually international month for our Goodwins family.
I have recently returned from 10 extraordinary days travelling through Chengdu, Mianyang and Chongqing as part of an Auckland Business Chamber and New Zealand Chinese Business Club delegation. At almost the same time, Brendan and Aleina Goodwin were representing UNIQ and New Zealand across Singapore, Zürich and Hamburg.
Different countries and very different programmes, yet we have all returned home having had remarkably similar conversations.
New Zealand continues to be enormously well regarded internationally. Our stability, lifestyle, natural environment and relative safety are obvious attractions, but so too is the opportunity people see to invest, establish businesses, bring capital and expertise, and build a longer-term connection with our country.
Sometimes it takes seeing New Zealand through somebody else’s eyes to be reminded just how much we have going for us.
And then, of course, you come home to Auckland; and, to property.
Locally, the market continues to reward realism, presentation and active management.
For our landlords, rental growth is subdued. Stats NZ reported that rents across the existing rental stock were unchanged year-on-year in August, while newly established rents were only modestly higher. That feels very consistent with what our team is experiencing across Auckland.
Tenants have choice, which means the first days of a campaign really matter. Pricing, presentation, photography, viewing attendance and applicant feedback all need to be watched closely. This is not a market in which we believe a property should simply be advertised and left to sit.
The sales market feels similar.
REINZ reported lower sales volumes nationally in August, alongside higher inventory and longer selling times, while Cotality recorded a further easing in Auckland values during the month. At the same time, Trade Me’s Auckland Property Price Index remained broadly flat year-on-year.
In practical terms, that means buyers are there, but they are informed, selective and generally have options. For vendors, creating urgency through accurate positioning, strong presentation and skilled negotiation is therefore particularly important.
Waiheke, as always, deserves its own lens.
It is a smaller and highly individual market, where broad averages can quickly become misleading. An Ostend family home, an Onetangi beachfront property, a lifestyle holding and a significant Oneroa residence are not really competing in the same market at all.
For our Waiheke clients, we therefore place far greater weight on the property itself, the current competing stock, recent comparable transactions and the likely buyer pool.
And then there is the General Election on 7 November.
There will inevitably be plenty of discussion in the weeks ahead about what politics may mean for property. Interestingly, Trade Me Property’s recent survey of more than 2,000 active buyers and homeowners found that only around one in five buyers and sellers regarded the election as a primary influence on their current decision-making.
That feels important.
People continue to make property decisions because life moves on: families grow, jobs change, investors reassess, people retire, opportunities present themselves.
Our role at Goodwins remains the same through any political or economic cycle. That is, to understand the market in front of us, stay very close to the evidence, and help our clients make well-informed decisions around their own circumstances.
Perhaps that is also my biggest reflection after September.
Having spent part of the month looking back towards New Zealand from thousands of kilometres away, it is easy to become consumed by the challenges immediately in front of us and forget the considerable advantages this country still possesses.
There are certainly challenges in our property market.
But there is opportunity too.
Properties are renting. Homes are selling. Buyers are looking. And from the conversations Brendan, Aleina and I have each been having internationally this month, interest in New Zealand extends well beyond our own shores.
After a fascinating month looking outward, it is very good to be home.
