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In this month’s issue:

Is your property up to scratch? There are changes on the horizon, what are they are what do you need to do

Team property: Having the right people around can make all the difference

Tenancy agreements by the book: Ticking the boxes and crossing the t’s can be more work than you think

Colliers International’s national director research and consulting Alan McMahon told delegates at a Property Council meeting in Auckland that demand for high-grade, structurally secure buildings was high.

“The pendulum is definitely swinging back in the landlords’ direction, with the exception of earthquake-prone stock. Rents for top end buildings will go up.

“Overall the situation is pretty good. Rents in Auckland’s CBD and metro areas are improving, and we are predicting growth in the industrial market along with Wellington’s prime office market.”

McMahon recognised that the majority of owners of buildings built before 1976 were individuals who might not have the financial ability to strengthen their properties to the required earthquake standards.

ASB Bank’s chief economist Nick Tuffley agreed earthquake strengthening was becoming a property market issue, particularly but not exclusively in Wellington.

He said ASB had seen its property finance book pick up strongly in the second half of last year, and the pipeline for this year had more than doubled.

“To put that in perspective, overall market credit to the business sector remains muted, so property appears to be gaining strong momentum.”

Meanwhile, in the residential housing market, one of the country’s largest real estate firms, Harcourts, says a shortage of listings nationally is beginning to bite.

“Every region in the country, with the exception of the central North Island, has seen the inventory of property available to buyers reduce in February, when measured against the same time in 2012,” said Hayden Duncan, Harcourts’ chief executive.

The data now coming out of Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and the provincial South Island seemed to confirm Auckland’s robust market was inspiring confidence further afield.

“The Government still remains in a state of paralysis, seemingly to be doing more politicking than showing any signs of real action to relieve this accommodation shortage,” Duncan said.

“Let’s hope they soon free up the reins that are holding many developers from creating homes and much-needed construction jobs.”

Harcourts figures showed new exclusive listings in January were down 11 per cent in its northern region – which includes Auckland – than at the same time last year.

But competition for properties had pushed its auctions to a record level, up 106 per cent.

It was a similar story in quake-affected Christchurch, where new listings were 21 per cent lower than last year, and auction rooms were “overflowing”.

Increased competition for stock had pushed the number of auctions up 42 per cent, but prices remained flat.

However, in provincial South Island, where many quake victims have moved, prices were up 21.5 per cent and new listings were down 8.6 per cent.

Auctions jumped 80 per cent but Harcourts cautioned that the price hikes were off a low base and could be skewed.

In the central North Island, confidence in the rural market seemed to be flowing through to sales. Listings lifted by a marginal 1.6 percent but there was a 28 per cent rise in written sales, albeit off a low base.

In Wellington, new listings were down 4.9 per cent, and prices were 5.4 per cent lower than the previous year.

However, auctions were up 27 per cent and written sales were up 24 per cent, indicating that supply and demand was starting to come back in the capital.

Stuff.co.nz by Catherine Harris, 19 February 2013

View the latest Property Management Focus for 2013 by CLICKING HERE

In this issue:

Bag your bach this summer: You might be back at work but the holiday doesn’t have to end

Lending some tips: With lending criteria easing, it still pays to ensure all your ducks are in line

Property Management – more than meets the eye: It’s about more than collecting the rent

Groups of ‘Creators’ transformed Buddies which involved children and adult groups turning plain white cardboard cut-outs into little ‘Buddies,’ but with big personalities! They breathed life into the ‘Buddies’ by giving them a name, a face, clothing, a story and a sense of belonging.

On the 26th of October Harcourts Hamilton announced they would gladly accept the invitation to take part in Buddy Day, taking on the role of official ‘Buddy Couriers.’ The team at Monarch Real Estate transported 350 Buddies around the area, delivering Buddies to those who registered to be ‘Buddy Carers’ from Huntly to Tokoroa.

“As a team, we transported the 350 Buddies to carers which is 20 per cent of the reported child abuse cases in this area.  We have already said we will be a part of the campaign next year and we look forward to it going national,” said Brian King, Business Owner of Harcourts Hamilton’s Monarch Real Estate.

Brian King got involved personally by caring for a Buddy which he involved in everything real estate, starting lots of conversations to share the Buddy Day message.

“Monarch was asked to be part of this event and we embraced it with open arms.  Those of the team who cared for a Buddy took them everywhere; I took mine out for a business lunch and to property auctions for six weeks. It definitely got conversations going, which is the whole point.”

“It was actually a great team builder at the office as well. It made us talk about a lot of issues around the cause and generally opened up conversation channels. ”

Buddy Day was held on Friday the 16th of November.

Attached are pictures of Harcourts’ Business Owner of Monarch Realty Brian King with his Buddy at lunch; Brian King with the 350 Buddies to be couriered around the area; One of the team with their Buddy.

Download your copy of Harcourts’ Property Management Focus for November by CLICKING HERE

In this month’s issue:

Going Digital: some regions have changed over, so what does that mean for rentals?

Valuing chattels: the changes to building depreciation doesn’t mean you can’t claim

Help your rental help itself: On-going maintenance is crucial; what should you look at

This monthly newsletter includes the latest Harcourts Northern Region statistics along with comment from Harcourts NZ CEO Hayden Duncan and Harcourts Northern Regional Manager, Josephine Kinsella on region’s property market.

This month read about the commercial and rural markets plus the average price for rentals in Auckland.

For more information CLICK HERE

Corinne Kennedy

South Auckland business Harcourts BCRE recently welcomed Corinne Kennedy back to the team, this time as the new manager of Harcourts BCRE’s Papakura branch.

Corinne is returning to Harcourts Papakura after being with the company from 2004-2009.  During that time she was the top agent for Papakura and South Auckland for the most part.

Harcourts BCRE Business Owner Graham Viall says it’s great to have a top performer back in the business and the South Auckland community will greatly reap the benefits.

“Corinne has come back to her true passion, real estate.  She had offers from many other companies but she chose to come back to us [Harcourts]. She is a very hard working and extremely focussed person with a very high level of professionalism, but more importantly loves Papakura and is passionate about the area and our brand.”

“Corinne is a very experienced manager and to have her back in the business is advantageous to not only us but to our clients.”

Her background in sales and marketing has always put Corinne in good stead being in top twenty sales consultants in Auckland three years running.  Since leaving Harcourts in 2009 Corinne started her own business and has been raising her family but now is driven to return to real estate.

Harcourts New Zealand CEO Hayden Duncan says it is always a great endorsement when previously top performers come back to Harcourts.

“We now have the benefit of Corrine back at Papakura ready to drive the business ahead which proves the strength of the Harcourts brand in attracting talented business people into the business.”

As the central suburbs of Auckland become out of reach for many buyers, the southern suburbs becomes a very attractive and affordable option.  Harcourts BCRE says they are seeing double the enquiry and more groups at open homes every week.

Established in 1990, BCRE Limited has long been recognised as one of the industry’s leading real estate companies in Auckland’s southern suburbs. BCRE specialises in all facets of real estate, from residential, rural lifestyle to property management commercial sales and leasing.

Officially re-opening today under the brand Jenner Real Estate this will be the second office for Jenner Real Estate. The office has been an existing Harcourts office for the last fifteen years and a desire to take the business to the next level was the catalyst for the ownership change.

Company Director of Jenner Real Estate Stu Jenner says his time in the industry has seen a lot of variations.

“Over my 25 years in the industry I have seen Mangere Bridge take on many guises but it is an up and coming suburb that continues to retain its tight knit community spirit. The community aspect is huge in Mangere Bridge.”

The rebranded office in Mangere Bridge will have five sales consultants and administration support covering residential and commercial sales plus property management.

Stu Jenner says the community of Mangere Bridge is a long standing one, much like Remuera, which the Harcourts Jenner Real Estate brand is synonymous with, connecting to those communities well.

“We have operated our long standing business in established communities for twenty years and have always been a part of the area’s development, progression and community culture. When we celebrate that twenty year anniversary as a Harcourts franchise on Friday we also celebrate the communities that have supported us.”

“We have been a strong regional portal and gateway to the rest of New Zealand by being part of the Harcourts brand.  Our greatest strength lies in a cooperative environment where a high level of information sharing takes place,” says Stu. “We plan to bring that to Mangere Bridge.”

Harcourts Remuera has just completed the building and renovation of new auction rooms created to help their very busy auction culture.

Harcourts Chief Executive Officer, Hayden Duncan, says Jenner Real Estate is fully equipped to offer the very best service possible with the flexibility to adapt to the ever-changing real estate landscape.

“Harcourts Remuera are top performers in the Northern Region with many high achievers. It is an exciting phase for Jenner Real Estate as they celebrate the success of twenty years of business and the partnership with the Harcourts brand combined with the rebranding of the only real estate office in the heart of Mangere Bridge who offers both local and national coverage while being aligned with our international brand.”

The rebranded office will open today at 43a Coronation Rd, Mangere Bridge.

The Government agrees with the Productivity Commission that housing can be made more affordable, and has embarked on a wide-ranging programme to make that happen, Finance Minister Bill English says.

The Government today issued its response to the Productivity Commission’s report on housing affordability.

“High house prices matter because many New Zealanders spend a large portion of their incomes on housing and that has helped fuel household debt and contribute to damaging imbalances in the economy,” Mr English says.

“In particular, high housing debt diverts money from more productive investments, contributes to New Zealand’s significant overall level of indebtedness and exposes taxpayers to growing demands for State assistance with housing costs.

“Those factors make it vital that housing becomes more affordable. In addition, projections suggest that many more homes will be required in coming years than are being built.”

Mr English warns that there will be no quick fixes and instead, work is needed in a number of complex areas and across multiple government, local government and private sector agencies to tackle issues that are deeply embedded.

Having carefully considered the Productivity Commission’s recommendations, the Government is today responding with a comprehensive work programme with four key aims:

The Government agrees with the Productivity Commission that housing can be made more affordable, and has embarked on a wide-ranging programme to make that happen, Finance Minister Bill English says.

• Increasing land supply – this will include more greenfields and brownfields developments and allow further densification of cities, where appropriate.
• Reducing delays and costs of RMA processes associated with housing – this includes introducing a six-month time limit on council processing of medium-sized consents.
• Improving the timely provision of infrastructure to support new housing – this will include considering new ways to co-ordinate and manage infrastructure for subdivisions.
• Improving productivity in the construction sector – this includes an evaluation of the Productivity Partnership’s progress in achieving a 20 per cent increase in productivity by 2020.

“Decisions made by local councils not only affect their local communities, but have wider effects on the economy and the Government’s books.

“Many of the changes that will make a difference lie with councils and the Government expects them to share the commitment to improving housing affordability,” Mr English says.

Some of the programme is already well advanced, with work under way in the Building and Construction, Environment and Local Government portfolios.

Other recommendations from the Productivity Commission require more detailed exploration and the Government has asked for more work to be done on specific policy proposals including:

• Whether Building Consent Authorities can be consolidated in a regional or national hub.
• The possible establishment of a competitor agency for resource consents/plan changes.

In addition, the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment will undertake a market-level inquiry into the construction sector to identify barriers to improving housing affordability.

More work will also be commissioned on the specific problems of the Auckland and Christchurch housing markets.

Mr English says the current economic climate, as well as projections of housing need, make it more important than ever for the housing market to function efficiently.

“Our response to the commission’s report also reinforces our existing programme aimed at reducing New Zealand’s vulnerability to foreign lenders, and removing economic imbalances caused by a disproportionate investment in housing.

“If implemented fully, today’s announcements on housing affordability will reduce housing stress and enable the housing market to better meet the needs of middle and low income New Zealanders,” he says.

Related document:

Housing affordability responses by recommendation (pdf 115.33 KB)