New Zealand - British Expat Forum

Hello, I am currently thinking of emigrating to New Zealand in around 18 months, and am wondering whether they is set to be a property boom in new zealand, like their was in Australia.

Property boom is over here, in fact some areas are now loosing money. That said coastal proptys will hold their value.

Crone, the prices in NZ are still pretty high. Surprisingly so in some cases!

Like any boom/bust situation, the prices climbed pretty rapidly, but are taking a while to normalise.

If you are expecting to buy a property with an aim to make money, you have missed the boat, unless you are intending on adding value.

That can be a profitable way - buying an old 1920s villa and modernising it can be reasonable cheap and eminently profitable - the key is in finding the right property!

would we be able to buy a 3 bed for $160,000 in Bay of plentys Rotorua or is that unrealistic

Well - I would have thought it was unrealistic, and then I did a bit of Googling!

From what I can see, on a quick look round, it looks as though you can start on $125K... However, do be aware that a lot of houses come described as "needing a little TLC [tender loving care]" - they usually mean that you have to completely redecorate and do a lot of DIY! As your partner is a decorator, that should be less of a worry for you than it is for those of us who don't know one end of a brush from another!

I don't know the Rotarua area at all, though, so don't know whether the cheaper houses are in less desirable locations.

How do we sort a rental property out from here in the uk, wed need this as soon as we arrive off the plane but none of the estate agents seem to want to know and we cant afford expensive motels/hotels

Well - the way that we did it was to book a space in a campervan park for a week - most campervan parks have cabins as well as spaces for vans and tents, and they are a lot cheaper than a motel. Our one was $70 / night, and we had a discount card which took it to $63. It was very basic - a room with a double bed in it, and a kitchenette area with a stove, fridge, kettle, microwave, table and chairs. They did also provide cooking equipment, so we didn't have to rush out to find plates and cutlery - a good thing when you've just got off a 27 hour flight!

Depending on where you are aiming for, you may have to use public transport to get you to look round rental places, but at least you are on the ground to look round rental places (which is incredibly important - you need to be able to see things like which way the house is facing for the sunlight - most places here aren't double glazed and insulation is minimal, so the heat in summer and winter is important! Also, we did look round a couple of places which were lovely on paper, but absolutely *vile* when we stepped inside! You are already putting yourself through the strain of moving across the world - you really don't want to add to it by having somewhere horrible to come home to after work, even if it is only for a few months while you buy a house.)

You can also check out the local papers and trade websites which will have rentals from the landlord directly as well as the agencies (we ended up renting directly off the landlady, which meant that we don't pay any agency fees)

Also note that rental places here don't always come with white goods (unless you are renting furnished) - we had to buy our fridge and washing machine - so do factor that in to the costs of renting.