Why now is the right time to buy a home

As interest rates climb and lending tightens, one Auckland mortgage adviser says now is a perfect opportunity for New Zealanders to buy a home.

One of NZ Adviser’s Elite Women for 2022, Loan Market’s Linda Eagleton (pictured above) said she was excited when speaking to prospective buyers looking to buy property in the current market.

“Indications are that property prices are only going to stay this low for a limited time, with economists predicting a 3% to 5% year-on-year rise in 2023 and a sense of FOMO [fear of missing out] would return to the market,” Eagleton said.

“While we are in a downward cycle now, it is not expected this will hang around too long.”

Eagleton said first home buyers were in a great position to buy a home.

“I am very excited for them as the heat has left the market which opens up an opportunity for them to finally buy. They can spend the time negotiating, plus they can now get more for their money as prices are more realistic and fixed rates are starting to decrease,” she said.

“All of these factors together make for an amazing opportunity for them to take advantage of. My advice to first home buyers is don’t worry about the doom and gloom, seize this opportunity.”

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Eagleton said the current market was also a good time for people wanting to sell and buy at the same time.

“Only one year ago a customer would come to me and say they could get X amount for their house. I would say to them ‘before you do anything, go and see what you would need to pay for a new house,’ then the customer would come back to me and be blown away at how much they would need to pay,” she said.

“While the customer is surprised and delighted by their sale price, they are horrified by the purchase price. Now it is a little harder to sell a home and they would probably have to accept a little less than 12 months ago, but the customer’s money will go much further.”

Eagleton said it was irrelevant whether house prices had gone up or down as these customers were selling and buying in the same market.

“People can now take their time to put their house on the market, sell, then buy in a buyers’ market and not caught up in the hype as they can buy more for their money,” she said. “My advice is make the most of this buyers’ market as I believe these conditions will last for 12 months tops.”

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Eagleton said in her opinion, investors should be doing what everyone else was not doing.

“Many investors had FOMO last year because they did not want to miss out on buying property, however I think they should’ve waited for when no one was buying because that is where they can get a good deal,” she said. “For investors, it always comes back to supply and demand, now is the time to buy, buy, buy.”