Level 4, Property Market & Opportunities

In a crisis, there’s always opportunity. Given that you’re reading this right now, you’re already ahead of others. New Zealand moved to level 4 lockdown last night. Based on previous lockdown experience expected:

• Less property comes to market in the next couple of weeks because each property needs some preparation before advertising live. Meanwhile, due to the lockdown, many people change their minds to sell their houses. This potentially causes less listing in the market to push prices up.
• People who stay at home due to lockdown have more time, try to search online and find a property. This is potentially more buyers in the market push price up. 
• RBNZ (Reserve Bank of New Zealand) announce today that, they don’t increase OCR (Interest rates) due to a recent Covid-19 case. Low interest & cheap money in the market help prices continue rising.
• Summery less property, more buyer, cheap money price going up. The same pattern happened in all previous lockdowns.

Advice & Opportunities

• Advice: If you are in the middle of buying or selling a property, check with your lawyer & inform other parties like agent, broker, … how lockdown impacts the whole process. You need to manage the situation proactively. 
• Opportunity 1: In level 4, some of the auctions will be cancelled, it is a good opportunity to contact the agents and see if you can buy by negotiation. Take action before somebody else does it. I can help you with “40 points Online Due Diligence” get as much information as possible online during the lockdown.
• Opportunity 2: In a lockdown, usually prepared people could find a discounted property. Some vendors may accept lower price when you offer flexibility which is limited by the lockdown. For example, a vendor who bought another house and needs money in 4 weeks will consider any offer that meets his/her settlement date and budget. You need to be ready, informed and try to find these deals.  
• Opportunity 3: Lockdown gives you time to be prepared, ready when the next lockdown happened. If you don’t know how to start, contact me and I help you start your process.