19th August '06

Home ownership is again dominating the media and I believe it won't go away in a hurry. It's true, the great Kiwi dream, “…to own your own home”is getting harder and harder. I feel sorry for the clients that my sales team had dealt with in the past who didn't buy, when they were in a position to, because they were being told by the experts that the market was going to crash. For me it was very frustrating because you could see the opportunity for these people to own a new home was going to be lost because land and house prices were (and still are) rising faster than they were able to save. I've got some lovely stories of couples who took our advice and bought into the market and who are now in such a strong position to trade up if they so desire. If they hadn't bought, they certainly wouldn't have been able to buy a new home today. My advice is still,”if you are in a position to buy a home today then do it now. It mightn't be your dream home; it won't be your last home-at least you will be in the house market.”