IMF report backs NZ's economic progress

New Zealand should expect strong and increasingly broad-based economic growth, according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest report on New Zealand, published today.
10-06-2014 more >>

Property Group has new head

Experienced investor Terry le Grove is the new President of the NZ Property Investors’ Federation (NZPIF).
05-06-2014 more >>

Property Group supports IRD tax education

A commonly held, but incorrect, belief is that rental property owners in New Zealand don't pay tax. This causes confusion for the general public and may lead first time landlords to have wrong information on their tax obligations.
03-06-2014 more >>

May Political Report from Thomas Chin

This is a summary of the political and regulatory news affecting the residential rental property industry
30-05-2014 more >>

Better growth, rising risks

The New Zealand economy has been recovering from the recession. But slumping house sales are a significant risk to our optimistic outlook for the economy - NZIER Quarterly Predictions, June 2014
27-05-2014 more >>

5+ Rentals to mean corporate loan status

The Reserve Bank (RBNZ) has introduced new rules that will come into effect on the 30th of June this year. These rules will see rental property owners with five or more rental properties classed as either income producing real estate or small to medium enterprises (SME's).
22-05-2014 more >>

OECD housing report shows rents too cheap

The latest OECD Housing report claims that New Zealand house prices are 70% too high compared to rental prices. There are a number of reasons why this is inaccurate.
20-05-2014 more >>

Guest Speaker: Cliff Seque

Who is Cliff Seque? He’s a 62 year old Dunedin full-time residential investor and landlord, with 80 self-contained units in his portfolio. He will be guest speaker at the Taranaki Property Investors Association monthly event on Tuesday May 20 in the St Mary’s Peace Hall on Vivian St, starting 7.30 pm. “I’m a long term landlord, for 30 years,” he says. “I started in 1973 by buying a block of three flats that needed upgrading to bring it up to the apartment bylaw standard and still have them. I went on to buy more blocks of flats that required upgrading and stand alone houses at the south end of Dunedin that required modernising and upgrading. In 1992, I started buying in the student campus area and have done so since. ”I look for properties that I can add value to by increasing the rental return. I have a buy and hold philosophy with the belief that only thing you can’t change about a property is its location.” Many landlord experiences are unpleasant; what’s kept him going for so long? “I’ve always had the attitude that if things go wrong, well I put the tenants in there so it’s my own fault. The biggest problem is money. Tenants are not always what they seem, their circumstances change and the landlord suffers.” Cliff is keen for Taranaki people to come to his talk. “I’m prepared to impart a lot of knowledge about buying and managing residential property. I have my own application forms, and my own tenancy agreements. They are very comprehensive. I don’t use the DBH forms, too many holes in them. “I keep a detailed spreadsheet for every property. I have been doing all my own property management up to 12 months ago when I employed my daughter to help. “I can talk about many things, such as how to structure a deal to your best advantage, dealing with banks, dealing with tenants and dealing with insurance. I have gone to a higher insurance excess of $2000 which reduces the premium by about one third and the saving allows me to make about two claims per year. Otherwise, you can virtually never make a claim.” It’s $20 at the door for non-members, but you can get in free if you bring along the guest form in this newsletter signed by a member.
20-05-2014 more >>

Housing pressures are easing gradually

Pressures in the New Zealand housing market are easing gradually but risks remain, the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank, Grant Spencer, said in a speech today.
09-05-2014 more >>

Update: Reserve Bank 5+ rental properties policies

In a surprise move, the Reserve Bank has deemed any rental property owner with five or more rental properties as a corporate borrower. We reported on this in our last newsletter (see here) and now have more information plus how you can find out the affects on your borrowings.
05-05-2014 more >>

Labour to Ring Fence rental property losses

Among the detail in Labour’s Monetary Policy Upgrade is ring-fencing of losses made in the early years of rental property ownership. A similar policy has been tried, failed and reversed in Australia. In the 2 year period it was law, Australian rents rose by over 25%.
05-05-2014 more >>

Easier to recover tenant debt now

Winning at the Tenancy Tribunal is just the first step in holding some tenants to account. However changes to the system for recovering debts came into place on April 14 and may make things a lot easier for rental property owners.
05-05-2014 more >>

NZPIF submission on Earthquake strengthening Bill

Residential properties with 2 or more stories and containing 3 or more units are to be covered by proposed Earthquake Strengthening regulations. The NZPIF have made a submission which you can see here
05-05-2014 more >>

How does the OCR actually affect interest rates?

The Official Cash Rate (OCR) was raised twice recently, the first change since early 2009. Floating mortgage interest rates for most banks moved up by the same amount almost immediately. But what exactly is the OCR and how does it affect the mortgage interest rates we pay?
05-05-2014 more >>

Tony Alexander reviews Labour's new Kiwisaver policy

BNZ Economist Tony Alexander looks at Labour's kiwisaver policy in his weekly review
02-05-2014 more >>

Rents could go up by 25% under Labour

Among the detail in Labour’s Monetary Policy Upgrade is ring-fencing of losses made in the early years of rental property ownership.
30-04-2014 more >>

Capital gains tax part of Labour policy

Alongside a capital gains tax, our KiwiBuild housing policy, universal KiwiSaver and reduced costs to businesses through NZ Power, Labour is offering an alternative that will help Kiwi families and ensure our economy can create better jobs and higher wages,” says David Parker
29-04-2014 more >>

Reserve Bank raises OCR to 3 percent

Statement issued by Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler: The Reserve Bank today increased the OCR by 25 basis points to 3 percent.
24-04-2014 more >>

Investors are very confident

Investors are very confident about the future prospects of commercial property investment in New Zealand, delivering another quarter of enthusiastic responses. Confidence is at a net positive 28%, just shy of the record high set at the end of 2013, according to the latest Colliers International investor confidence survey.
17-04-2014 more >>

2010 Landlord of the year - Nancy Caiger

Nancy Caiger, guest speaker at the Taranaki Property Investors monthly public meeting on Tuesday April 15, owns 24 residential properties, some of them in the USA. She grew up in Singapore and after university began a career in financial markets (foreign exchange, money and bonds) in Singapore and then London. She came to NZ in 1993. “My late husband had cancer and we wanted a less hectic lifestyle. We had been here on holiday and we really liked it. “We had been involved in financial markets and did not originally intend to invest in real estate but we found the tenancy laws here were very conducive to investment. “I started off self-managing, I got my hands dirty painting, cleaning, washing, repairs, sacking tenants, going to tribunal hearings, all of that. “I am always looking for opportunities. “The biggest challenge for a landlord I think is setting your goals, deciding what you want, what you wish to achieve and if you get that right everything will fall into place.” USA investment : “After the global financial crisis and crash in the US property market the opportunities looked very good, with properties selling well below replacement value, and that’s why I started there. “Would I do anything differently with 20/20 hindsight vision? I would have started earlier on the American journey and with more time I may have chosen different centres. There are 50 states and you can’t have a scattergun approach. It also depends on the type of managers you have, some are more hands-on than others. But it’s really no different in terms of distance, to investing in say Invercargill. The issues are the same, except flight time and cost.” Why should people come to hear you? “Well I have really strong property investment experience, I have been successful and what I have achieved speaks for itself. I have spoken to many investor groups over the past year and have had very good feedback.” Nancy Caiger lives in Hamilton and is President of the Waikato PIA. She was the NZ Property Investors Federation Landlord of the Year in 2010. She speaks at St Mary’s Peace Hall, Vivian St, NP, starting 7.30 pm. $20 door charge for non-members. Bring the form from this newsletter, get it signed by a TPIA member and your entry is free. Derek McInnes of Taranaki Competitive Homes is the evening sponsor and warm-up speaker.
15-04-2014 more >>

Capital Gains Tax not a solution

The association representing Kiwi landlords is disappointed the Labour Party is misleading the public about their proposed capital gains tax, which they plan to apply to all asset classes except the family home.
14-04-2014 more >>

March 2014 Political report

The following is a summary of political developments and regulatory risks affecting the residential rental property industry.
01-04-2014 more >>

Reserve Bank Bulletin released

The Reserve Bank today released the March 2014 edition of the Reserve Bank Bulletin.
31-03-2014 more >>

Rental property owners not to blame

Kiwi landlords are not to blame for a decrease in Kiwi home-ownership.
28-03-2014 more >>

Report shows investor gains in cities around NZ

The Westpac Investment Report released today highlights in which cities gains are being made
27-03-2014 more >>