NZ Property Investor December 2023

It's the festive season and we hope you are all excited about the coming celebrations. As you have probably realised, it's also our 20th birthday. Significant milestones such as this are a time for reflection and contemplation; the opportunity to look back and consider how far we've come. And New Zealand Property Investor has come a very long way. Since its inception in the early 2000s, the magazine has gone from strength to strength. We've kept up with the times; our content constantly evolving to reflect the changing world of property and publishing. Our new website (www.propertyinvestor.co.nz) reflects this commitment to change. Updated regularly with news and insights, and monthly content from the most recent magazine, it's the perfect place for readers to find everything they need to know around…

UP FRONT NEWS New research shows most bank and non-bank lenders prefer funding industrial developments above all other property assets. CBRE's latest Lender Sentiment Survey shows this is true even for nonbank lenders that typically focus on the residential sector. Industrial is the most preferred for construction and investment lending. Lenders are most overweight in build-tosell residential and most underweight in industrial, the market sector which has the healthiest property fundamentals. It is now the preferred asset class by more than 70 per cent of lenders. CBRE research head Zoltan Moricz says it is notable that several non-bank lenders, whose focus is mainly on residential development or subdivision lending, are also wanting more exposure to industrial development. Twenty lenders took part in the survey including seven international and 13 domestic…

UP FRONT NEWS Changes are expected to the the Residential Property Managers Bill introduced to Parliament in August by the previous Labour government. The bill covers about 42 per cent of the residential tenancy market and involves compulsory registration and licensing for individual property managers and their organisations, training and entry requirements, practice standards, and a complaints and disciplinary process to be administered by The Real Estate Authority. It does not include private landlords, Kainga Ora or registered community housing providers. If Chris Bishop is appointed Housing Minister in the National-led coalition government he has indicated to the Residential Property Managers Association (RPMA) he is open to discussing changes to the bill. RPMA chair David Pearse says while the association is for regulation of property managers, it believes the bill…

UP FRONT NEWS The RBNZ plans public consultation on potential debt-to-income (DTI) settings in the first quarter of next year, with a possible introduction mid next year. While the central bank is coy on whether it will actually introduce them or not, they are intended to set limits on the amount of mortgage debt borrowers can take on relative to their income. According to the RBNZ this will support financial stability by limiting higher-risk mortgage lending, thus reducing the likelihood of a future housing-related financial crisis. First given the green light by former Labour Finance Minister Grant Robertson in 2021, RBNZ's work has continued on developing a DTI framework to complement the existing LVR policy by focusing on a different dimension of risk. This year banks have been working on…

1. HEALTHY HOME: Homes rented through property managers are required to have a certificate saying they are compliant, but The Rental Bureau's managing director, Victoria Heyes, says there is a misunderstanding of what a healthy home is. An example was after Auckland's January floods when tenants assumed if they had wet carpets the house wouldn't pass the Healthy Homes standards. Ironically, a home with a wet carpet still passes the standards. While most people wouldn't consider it still a healthy home, if it has a heat pump, ventilation and ticks all the boxes, it passes the test. Because of this, property managers say there is a level of misunderstanding. Tenants believe it is unhealthy if it has a wet carpet and mould on the ceiling, and it doesn't matter if…

Q My one-bedroom apartment in Auckland has been co-leased to a couple for the past two years. Over the weekend I received an email from my female tenant who disclosed her male partner was domestically abusing her. Previous incidents have resulted in police checks. However, no charges have been made. While she has a new tenancy lined up and somewhere safe to stay in the interim, she is unable to finance this move and pay out the 28-day notice period at the same time. She is also concerned her partner will react violently if he finds out she is leaving and wishes to do so without disclosing the tenancy termination to him. She has always been a trustworthy tenant and my priority is ensuring her safety. What are her rights…