photo by Light Night
Last year we visited Auckland for 2 months to get an idea of what it would be like to live there. Both my wife and I have family in New Zealand and we’re giving it serious consideration. During our ‘07 holiday visit I checked in with my brother in law about the local real estate market. He’s invested in several properties in the Auckland area, has done real estate training and is a sharp guy. I asked him if he felt home prices in New Zealand would be dropping like they were back in the US. His reply was that the NZ real estate market was well insulated from the US economy and that he felt prices would continue to rise. I’m a guest in his home, his country.. who am I to argue?
I’m no expert but I saw this coming 2 years ago from the growing stream of news on blogs and on social bookmarking sites like Reddit / Digg. That’s knowledge of the crowd for you. No one in social media is surprised by the financial collapse. What happens in banking in one country affects banks and overseas. These are international companies. When Lehman Brothers fails in New York, it also fails in London, Hong Kong and Auckland.
While taking public transportation around Auckland I’d talk to the bus drivers about areas they considered to be hot markets for buying homes. Who better really? One of the bus drivers told me she and her husband were getting ready to buy a home. I told her about the coming sub-prime fallout and that she might want to wait a year. I might be getting a warm NZ hug the next time I ride her bus.
With huge projects failing and housing markets reaching 26 year lows, the NZ economy is in recession.
New Zealand is a fantastic country and has excellent investment value. Prices will come back eventually and our long term plans still include NZ. Especially if Obama should lose this election – NZ here we come! Recession or not.
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