The residential property market in Auckland may be softening, but anyone looking at buying a home to live in long-term can rest assured that price fluctuations will have virtually no impact on their life in the residence over that period, according to one of the city’s foremost real estate agents.
Bayleys Ponsonby leading salesperson Blair Haddow said that anyone buying a home in the likes of Ponsonby, Herne Bay, St Mary’s Bay, Westmere, Freemans Bay, and Grey Lynn, and looking to live in the locale well into the foreseeable future should not be concerned about price fluctuations in the market.
“Yes, the market may be on a downward trend, but when you’re looking at buying your dream home, your ‘forever’ home, does that really matter?” said Blair Haddow, who has experienced numerous property cycles during his distinguished career at Bayleys.
“The deep underlying motivation for moving into a new home will remain the same no matter what the asking price. How much do you really want to live in Ponsonby, Herne Bay, St Mary’s Bay, Westmere, Freemans Bay, or Grey Lynn?
“I often use the analogy that property cycles are like ‘lifts and elevators’ in an office block. The price may go down quickly like a lift, so it is quite noticeable. But the price always rises again - steadily like an escalator.
And the escalator journey back up will always take you higher in the building than where the lift began its journey down,” said Blair Haddow, who has just returned from an incentive trip to Hawaii where he was hosted by Bayleys Real Estate as one of Bayleys top agents across New Zealand for the 2021/2022 year.
“Over the course of a decade, the price of homes will have risen. From the trough to the peak will typically see the price doubled. It’s been that way for decades and decades, and there’s no reason to see why this property cycle is anything different to the many which have gone before.”
Blair Haddow said very few Ponsonby, Herne Bay, St Mary’s Bay, Westmere, Freemans Bay, or Grey Lynn homes he had sold over recent years had been to speculators or ‘flippers’ looking to get in and out of the market over short timeframe and make a quick profit off rising values. Accordingly, the long-time Bayleys agent expected no change to his buyer dynamics.
“My buyers are looking for beautiful family homes and residences they can move into and love right from day one. My buyers don’t want to be knocking down walls, sanding floorboards, or putting in new kitchens and bathrooms. They want all of that to have been done already,” he said.
As a result, Blair Haddow has a substantial buyer database of clients waiting for homes to come up for sale in the $5million-$10million price bracket.
Blair Haddow’s summation of market movements and hesitancy from some buyers to purchase in a downward market is mirrored by independent real estate economist Tony Alexander, who highlighted the issue in one of his recent property sector updates.
“You have to ask yourself…. Are you trying to pick the bottom of the cycle? If you are, you’re an idiot. If you get it, that’s pure dumb luck – like Lotto. None of us with decades in this business can accurately pick cyclical tops and bottoms,” said Tony Alexander.
“For you as a buyer, the rule is this: Be prepared to miss the lowest price you could get a property at, in order to lock in the most suitable accommodation for you and your loved ones over the next 10 – 20 years,” he continued.
“Few people will do this, and most of you currently, and in the coming year, looking for a reason not to buy, and will end up joining the rush to purchase when the cycle turns.”
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