Residential
Award-winning Parnell team joins Harcourts
September 1st, 2010An award-winning Parnell-based real estate team has joined Harcourts from another international real estate group, making the move public today by rebranding their existing office.
Formerly trading under a Ray White franchise in Parnell, the team has today commenced introducing the Harcourts and NAI Harcourts brands along with Harcourts’ world-class systems and products in addition to sharing the news with their clients.
Directors James Lee and Rosh Daji say Harcourts is a New Zealand success story they wanted their company to be part of.
Harcourts Parnell senior management, from left, James Law, Rosh Daji and James Lee
“Harcourts is achieving excellent growth domestically and globally, they recently added an exciting new international network via their joint venture with one of the world’s largest commercial property groups to form NAI Harcourts, and from our observations they have industry-leading technology, training and support amongst other things,” the pair says.
“With big plans across both the commercial…
Tags: harcourts new zealand, Harcourts Parnell, Hayden Duncan, James Lee, NAI Harcourts, NZ International Realty Ltd, Rosh Daji
Plan to get the most out of ‘downsizing’
August 25th, 2010The prospect of a carefree retirement at the traditional age of 60 to 65 is becoming an increasingly remote possibility for many people.
However, says Harcourts Africa CEO Martin Schultheiss, proper planning can bring it closer, and one of the most important elements of that planning should be to pay off debts – including home loans – as early as possible.
“The Association for Savings and Investment (Asisa) calculated earlier this year that the average monthly pension in SA is less than R3000, and advised that people should keep working for as long as possible to preserve their capital instead of using it to fund their retirement.
“It also said consumers should use any spare cash while they were still earning to pay off debts and then invest more for retirement, even if this meant deferring their material aspirations for several years.
“And we would like to add that following this course will also…
Call to put property taxes to work in housing
August 25th, 2010Although the new mortgage guarantee fund introduced by the Department of Human Settlement is to be welcomed, more needs to be done to help lower-income families achieve home ownership.
So says Harcourts Africa CEO Martin Schultheiss, who suggests that the authorities also look at ways to directly subsidise the mortgage repayments on homes in the lower price ranges.
“One possibility,” he says, “ would be to divert some of the taxes specific to property ownership back into a subsidy scheme for first-time buyers below a certain threshold. These taxes include the transfer duty payable on the purchase of properties costing more than R500,000, the capital gains tax payable on some property sales and even the municipal property rates payable by all homeowners.”
Estimates of the national average house price, he notes, currently range from around R550,000 to almost R800,000, “and to buy even at the bottom end of this bracket, prospective homeowners would…
Harcourts’ showcase in China generating “serious interest”
August 24th, 2010A six-day showcase in Shanghai of more than $800 million worth of premier New Zealand property is generating “serious interest” from specially invited Chinese VIPs according to the organisers, Harcourts’ franchise Cooper & Co.
The successful North Shore-based company’s international marketing initiative is focused on presenting a collection of more than 50 residential, lifestyle, rural and commercial property and development projects from around New Zealand to Chinese millionaires and billionaires interested in investing and/or immigrating here.
Harcourts Cooper & Co Managing Director Martin Cooper says the feedback on both the portfolio and New Zealand as a place to invest or live has been very positive and he is confident sales will follow.
Harcourts Cooper & Co Managing Director Martin Cooper in Shanghai showing some premier New Zealand properties to potential buyers, using touch screen technology.
“Prior to our arrival in Shanghai there was already good interest, with local investment groups wanting to get involved…
Tags: China, Cooper & Co, Expo, harcourts, Hayden Duncan, Martin Cooper, New Zealand Pavilion, NZTE, Shanghai
Now is the Time to Enter the Property Market!
August 20th, 2010There is a lot of negative news surrounding the flattening value of homes in Australia at the moment. This slowdown has come after nearly 18 months of strong rises in home values across the country.
Dwellings across all capital cities experienced a marked reduction in growth rates in the April to June quarter from the 3 per cent per quarter pace witnessed since the beginning of 2009. Adelaide was the only exception with dwelling prices rising by a respectable 1.1 per cent.*
Despite this negativity, CEO of Harcourts Queensland, Aaron Brooks believes that some positivity can come out of this market, especially for first home buyers and those looking to acquire a long-term investment property.
“Properties in most states are now more affordable than they have been recently which will attract new and different buyers to the market, even despite the end of the first home buyers grant,” said Mr Brooks.
“For those thinking…
New Harcourts office opened in Napier
August 20th, 2010Successful Harcourts’ franchise Regent Realty Ltd has opened a new branch in Napier to ensure the Hawke’s Bay business can better service people interested in real estate in the city and surrounding areas.
Business Owner Kaine Wilson says establishing the new office, which is located at 308 Hastings Street, will benefit buyers and sellers, property investors and tenants active in the greater Napier property market.
New Harcourts Napier office
“Having an office in Napier in such an excellent location provides us with a great opportunity to expose the properties and businesses we’re marketing, which obviously benefits the clients we’re representing along with the buyers and tenants looking for property in the area. Setting up an office in Napier also ensures customers or potential customers have somewhere suitable to meet with our team to discuss their property needs.
“Meanwhile having a physical presence in Napier is obviously good for our profile and provides us with…
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Harcourts NZ CEO suggests more balanced Spring
August 18th, 2010Harcourts New Zealand CEO Hayden Duncan says an increase in listings in July and evidence more properties will be put on the market soon suggests Spring could be more “balanced”.
Commenting in the latest Harcourts MarketWatch newsletter Mr Duncan says a 10% increase in new exclusive listings in July, when compared to the same month last year, suggests a “more balanced” Spring market might be ahead, with supply and demand being more equitable.
“In terms of the residential and lifestyle markets at least, low interest rates, positive net migration and tax cuts should all provide some stimulus and traditionally Spring is always a more active period for both sellers and buyers.
“Certainly our team is reporting that there’s a strong lift in the amount of people preparing to put their properties on the market in the months ahead, with many already booking advertising campaigns,” he says. “This will be welcome news to buyers, many…
Eskom hikes positive and negative for landlords
August 13th, 2010Residential landlords who want to keep their tenants may have to forego any further rental increases this year as the new Eskom electricity tariffs start to eat into disposable incomes.
That’s the word from RentalsDOTcom, the rental property management division of Harcourts Africa, which notes that the average electricity is price in most areas has now risen from around 33c/kWh to 41,5c/kWh.
“But on the other hand,” says CEO Martin Schultheiss, “the tariff hikes are going to make it more difficult for many people to qualify for home loans because the banks take household expenditure into account when evaluating affordability. This means they will have to stay in rental accommodation, which is positive for landlords from the demand perspective.”
The national energy regulator (Nersa) gave Eskom the go-ahead in February to raise its tariffs by 25% from 1 April and in most municipalities this is now being passed on to electricity consumers, adding…
Temporary relocation: should you sell or let your home?
August 13th, 2010In a tight economy employees must go where the work is – but that raises questions about what to do with your property when you are offered a contract in another city or country.
The options need careful consideration, says Martin Schultheiss, CEO of the Harcourts Africa property group. “The benefit of selling is that you make a clean break, while renting out your property means that you will have a home to come back to when the contract period is up – and that hopefully that home will have appreciated in value in the interim.”
For homeowners with a large bond outstanding on the property, however, selling is arguably a better option, he says. “The costs associated with a rental property can swallow a large portion of the rental income, leaving the owner to make up the difference between real rental income and the costs of servicing the bond. And that can…
