New year, new opportunities

Lynette McFadden Business Owner & Mentor, Harcourts gold @lynette_mcfadden

Welcome to 2023: a year that, like those before, will have its own signature. That combination of continuing market changes (think price), challenges (interest rates plus inflationary pressure), and beauty (or opportunity!).

I’m curious about the year ahead. We have an election, always interesting, given its potential to hamper decision-making both individually and nationally, and that vacuum created when everyone is trying to pick the bottom of the market and the likelihood of an upswing.

This will eventually happen, as it has every other time there’s been a slump – repositioning, as some industry experts like to describe the current market.

About this time last year, I looked at my very old and battered crystal ball, hoping for insight befitting my now 29-year tenure.

Experts were at odds, with forecasts ranging from a four per cent decrease in prices to others thinking the astronomical gains of 2020/21 could continue. In retrospect, no one realised the depth of the correction we would go on to experience – or the level of zeal the Reserve Bank would bring with its ‘stop spending’ and ‘beware the property market is unsustainable’ mandate.

Frequent OCR increases and interest rate rises have all but brought to a halt that runaway horse we were riding, fuelled by huge increases in property values, cheap money, and eye-watering auction clearance rates.

So where are we going?

The dialogue is once again mixed, so rather than look at data, I’d prefer to look at opportunities being created.

I’m thinking about you, buyers! You are the lucky ones in this orbit of the marketing cycle.

Don’t squander your chances while standing on the sideline thinking, ‘I’ll wait it out; I’ll squeeze every last ounce out of the seller’.

You have so much on your side, especially choice, which over the last few years, has been such a rarity. Large numbers of properties are on or coming to the market. On 19 December, 2022, there were 1,917 Christchurch homes for sale.

Owners are more educated as to current prices, many doing their best with both presentation and negotiation opportunities, and you, buyers, have the chance to lock in your interest rate.

Make the decision to buy and get on, or further up, the property ladder while you have that chance.

It’s a fact of human nature that when you have everything you could possibly want, you’ll go for more. I’ve seen some buyers challenge prices, even those vastly reduced, whilst insisting on extra chattels to be included in the sale. We’re talking fridges, spas, trampolines, and cushions.

But there’s a flip side. On 5 January 2023, CoreLogic noted that while there’s been a nationwide drop in prices, slowing in December, Christchurch bucked the trend (the only main centre to do so).

Here’s the clincher: despite everything, Christchurch remains an incredibly affordable city with attractive lifestyle options.

With that, I’m keen to make the most of what’s ahead. I’ve planned a massive year prioritising health and well-being, doing great business, and hopefully getting out of my comfort zone.

Is this the time to get out of yours?

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