NZ Property Investor June 2020

Welcome to the postlockdown Covid-19 era. It’s a time when some aspects of life have returned to a semblance of what they once were, while others have not. Most businesses have now reopened, although – odds are - how they go about their business has changed. Most people have been able to return to work - not everyone though. Each day brings more news of mass job losses and dire predictions of what to expect from the economy in the months ahead. All too often the future looks bleak with not much to be cheerful about. But there are glimmers of hope about. For example, economist Benje Patterson says that 3,136 businesses were started in New Zealand during April: these lockdown entrepreneurs personify the Kiwi can-do spirit in tough times.…

Building and Construction Minister Jenny Salesa says new exemptions to the Building Act will be introduced to make such building work easier and cheaper. The exemptions mean that single-storey detached buildings up to 30m2 – like sleep-outs, sheds, greenhouses, carports and awnings - will now not require a council-approved building consent. However, any such work will still have to meet the Building Code, Salesa says. “Some of the new exemptions will utilise the Licensed Building Practitioners Scheme, which recognises the competence of these building practitioners and allows them to join chartered professional engineers and certifying plumbers in having their own suite of exemptions.” The move is expected to result in 9,000 fewer consents to process a year and save property owners $18 million in consenting costs each year. It’s all…

Since slashing the OCR to its current record low of 0.25% back in March, the Reserve Bank has been doing its best to create a supportive lending environment to combat the Covid-19 crisis. It scrapped the loan-to-value ratio (LVR) restrictions, for at least 12 months, in April and also urged the banks to keep passing the OCR cut on and lower their mortgage rates. Now, the rates war is back on – with banks responding to the situation by sending rates tumbling to their current record, sub-3% lows. But that doesn’t mean the banks are all changing their lending policies to match. According to several advisers, BNZ has updated its lending policy and criteria for home loan applicants recently. The bank has re-affirmed it will only lend up to 70%…

Your monthly round up of property investment related events around the country. ONLINE PROPERTY INVESTMENT & EDUCATION SEMINAR, Available on demand. Hosted by Gilligan Rowe & Associates and includes Covid-19 property market update. Free to attend. To register: https://www.nzportal.co.nz/pie/register.aspx or for more information please visit https://www.gra.co.nz/property-investment-seminars or phone 09 522 7955. BREAKFAST WITH RON Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, June 7 https://ronovationz.co.nz/seminars/ INVESTMENT SEMINAR ONLINE SEMINARS: South Island, June 3; Hamilton/Tauranga and South Auckland, June 10; Auckland/Northland, June 17; Wellington and Lower North Island, June 24. Hosted by Positive Real Estate. To join: https://positiverealestate.co.nz/property-investment-seminar/ For more information about listing your event, please contact Lisa Wise lisa@tarawera.co.nz. Last date for entries for July 2020 issue, June 11.…

1 House price drops are short-lived - Alexander Periods of house price decline are rare and “short-lived”, says economist Tony Alexander, amid forecasts of a drop of 10%-15% this year. 2 Investors expect road ahead to be tougher Most investors believe that conditions will get harder for property investors over the next year but not just because of the Covid-19 crisis, a new survey by NZ Property Investor has found. 3 Majority of MPs qualify as property investors It’s impossible to ignore New Zealanders’ love for property as an investment – and this is highlighted by the holdings of our MPs, a majority of whom qualify as multiple property owners. 4 What alert level 3 means for landlords New Zealand has now moved out of alert level four lockdown to…

Provision of a run-down rental property to a tenant in need has led to a Hastings landlord having to pay the tenant over $3,000 in damages, as well as being ordered to carry out extensive remediation work. In October 2018, GDSS Properties Ltd, owned by Angela Payne, offered to rent out the villa to Tammy Prentice, who had been “homeless” and struggling to find a place for herself and her children to live for a year. Prentice accepted the offer, even though the house was in poor condition, and moved in. Health problems soon followed and a social worker became involved. The social worker encouraged Prentice to serve a 14-day notice on Payne to undertake some repairs. Prentice did this late last year, but the situation deteriorated further this year…