What's happening with Christchurch property?

A Christchurch mortgage adviser says there is plenty of traction and lots of opportunity in the Garden City property market.

Named one of NZ Adviser’s Elite Women for 2022, Elyce Peters (pictured above) of The Mortgage Girls, said there are many good property deals to be had, with lots of first-home buyers looking and houses priced below $500,000 still considered hot real estate.

“Many real estate agents are saying there are lots of people are turning up at open for inspections and there are plenty of properties going to hit the market shortly,” Peters said.

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“This is a positive sign because the market has certainly shifted from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market, which gives our clients the time to make good decisions, whereas a year ago, they would not have had this opportunity due to the competitiveness of buyers and lack of supply.”

Peters said the Christchurch property market was very different to the rest of the country.

“The earthquake in 2011 is certainly a factor in that, because when it hit, we had an undersupply of properties, which increased prices. However, we have seen a quick rise in capital as there is not enough supply,” she said.

“We never saw an over-inflation trend with capital growth like many other New Zealand markets experienced. We did see a boost in home prices in 2020, which has now stabilised, so we are still in a stable market and because of that, we have been weathering a crazy economic environment rather well and not seeing big drops in home prices yet.”

Peters said a shift in market conditions had created the opportunity for advisers to provide their clients with better service in a less pressurised environment.

“Our clients now have the time to make offers on homes, which allows us to provide a stronger service because we have more time to spend with our clients. We have been in business for seven years now and we are seeing a trend of first-home buyers we have previously helped who are now returning to us to help them buy their next home,” she said.

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“They might have held onto their home for a few years and have seen the jump in prices in the short amount of time, so they are selling and upgrading. Due to tight lending, rising inflation and interest rate rises, it makes it hard to retain a property, but many of our clients are happy overall to find a house, sell their existing home and upgrade.”

Peters said it had been a pleasure watching her loan book mature from helping first-home buyers to branching out by helping investors, clients wanting to try a development, or those wanting business lending.

“We have an amazing team of women who are passionate about helping clients get into the market. It is so rewarding to educate our clients and watch them grow,” she said.

“I consider it a privilege to do what we do at The Mortgage Girls. We are professionals and as an industry we need to embrace that, and we get to help people achieve their financial dreams. The value proposition of a broker is increasing and we are not just brokers – we work with finance, not just mortgages, we do debt consolidation, unsecured lending, small business lending and asset lending. It is important to diversify what you do and be good at it, because at the end of the day, where would we be without our clients?”