davros1984

On new cars, I do not have an argument, although i would make a statement that the vast majority emigrating to NZ cannot afford a brand new car, at least not right away. The used car market is a very different story. I have bought a 2004 1.6 tspirit toyota corolla with 35000 miles on the clock in mint condition with full dealer service history for £2,350. The same car in Auckland in that condition is anywhere from 7000-12000 NZD. There is one example. We had to spend $6,600 on a 2004 corsa in NZ yet you could buy a good one of them here (at that time) for around 1500 GBP. So no, not having a joke. I have also fed myself this past week on £14.50 at Morrisons. I took the kiwi approach of only buying what i absolutely need with 2 exceptions: scotch eggs and dairy milk.

Bo-Jangles

The difference is that there is a lot more choice and availability at the more affordable end of the market; the first time buyer / terraced / semi-detached housing etc. In Auckland there is no such thing - with starting prices at $450k + even for a scuzzy old shack within 'reasonable' access / an hours commute of central Auckland.

Even if the search is directed towards the so-called more affordable / high density styles of housing around the newer 'towns' of Auckland - the asking prices are up there in the six hundreds.

As usual everyone likes make excuses for Auckland and puts it up there in comparison with London, which is utterly ridiculous. Most people that work in London get some kind of weighting in their pay - this simply doesn't happen here in Auckland - all multi-employer agreements get the same regardless of where they are in the country and you don't hear of people getting paid more to transfer to Auckland. The transport options enable people to live further out of the most expensive centres of London.

If you were to try a similar search for a three bedroom house within one hour commute to central London the choice of available places would be absolutely overwhelming in the £225 to £250k price bracket.

The numbers simply don't stack up and unless you have substantial equity to invest, then I don't see how anyone can make it work on $100k pa and still have a life in Auckland.

Individual comparisons of earnings and living costs are extremely hard to make as everyone is coming at it from a different base and starting point but anyway, here's an example of my real life mortgage situation:

Current balance $311,822.60 DR Current debit interest rate 5.2% p.a. Fixed Fixed rate expires 10 Dec 2014 Next fortnightly repayment amount $1,250.00

Of course we've never had it so good and with interest rates on the upward trajectory I predict things will start to look a lot less rosy in the BJ household come December.

Northern Henry

Really? This fact shows peoples daily living standards do vary widely and helps probably put Davros's expectations in perspective.

jmh

That's an exaggeration. I've just sold my 2 bed terrace for GBP300,000 and it is considered cheap because it is in a less popular area and over an hours commute into London. Down the road in the better area they are nearer GBP500,000 for a terrace. No way you would get a 3 bed house in that price range. In a cheap area alongside the A3 you can pick up a 3 bed detached house for around GBP 700,000 if you don't mind traffic noise and pollution. Nice M&S food hall nearby though.

You other point is valid though. If you have no equity you probably won't be able to buy a family home in Auckland.

christmasoompa

That's only relevant to your area though, there are lots of cheaper ones within an hours commute of London. Our house is within an hours commute and cost us far less than the 700,000 you quoted - and it's a large 6 bed Georgian farmhouse with land!

There are lots of cheaper areas within an hour of London, and £300k is plenty of money to buy a nice house in them. It would get a 4 or 5 bedroom house near where I live.

jmh

Since I don't know where you're talking about I assume there are disincentives for many people or they would be paying silly prices to live in my place (which is not a posh area like yours). I did hear of someone commuting from Spain and quite a few people commute from France so to be fair, you can do it if you try hard enough.

christmasoompa

I've no idea where you're talking about either, but if you avoid the Surrey/Bucks 'posh' commuter belt areas, most other places within an hour of London (Kent, Essex, Hampshire etc) are much cheaper and Bo-jangles is right, a 3 bed house can easily be got for up to £250k.

In fact, even in the 'posh' Chiltern Hills/Bucks commuter area I can find a 3 bed for that amount - 3 bedroom end of terrace house for sale in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, HP5

So your house must be in a *really* expensive part of the country!

jmh

Yawn, are we really going over this old ground again. It's not even as if I want to defend Auckland. I think people should go elsewhere so there's no argument from me on that score.

I'm hoping to make an offer on a house in Auckland tomorrow. I don't want to say more but its below $550,000, 3 bed, nice area. I'll be mortgage free too which helps. Wish me luck.

jmh

Another point worth making is that I am an old bird so I have had time to save and pay off a mortgage. When I was 30 I did not own a property and had to buy a one bed flat on a mortgage because that's all I could afford. For those who are a few decades younger than me, be patient - it will come. Just take the first step. It may not be the perfect house, but it will be a home.

davros1984

good luck jmh, being mortgage free will be a dream! Some great posts above which highlights some very valid points. Only reason this has resurfaced is because people do not search or look at previous posts which already covers a lot of this in extreme detail.

NH - i did almost an identical shop to what i would buy myself in auckland (if feeding myself). So wholemeal bread, plenty of vege, not the most basic sandwich meat, wraps, squash, pasta, rice, chicken/turkey, mince, sauces and spuds, yoghurts, bacon, s&p.

Bo-Jangles

It's really not that hard to find 100s of examples of houses for less than £300k and closer to London - here's a five bedroom semi-detached £300k within 25 minutes by train.

5 bedroom semi-detached house for sale in Mayplace Avenue, CRAYFORD, Kent. DA1 4PZ, DA1

New Zealand has some advantages over the UK but housing certainly isn't one of them - so I don't know why people get their knickers all in a wrinkle when people make mention of that particular elephant in the room.

Pom_Chch

I really don't think items are 2-4 times more expensive over here. If they were we would have packed up and left a long time ago, we simply wouldn't be able to afford to live. The only thing I can think of that is 2-4 times more expensive is books.

I was sitting outside of a coffee shop today in t-shirt and shorts in the middle of winter. Sat with a flat white, a good book, view of the snow capped mountains in the distance and feeling the sun on my skin. Can't put a price on that IMVOH

Northern Henry

Good Luck

Auckland, its the Country's biggest city and the quickest expanding, it will always be more expensive than anywhere else, that's a global fact- take any "capital" in the world, expecting different is naive.

Agree...Bemoaning cost of living is rife in the uk also, London (again the Country's biggest city) has similar issues - specifics in terms of housing stock and expectations on jobs being unique to that place.

In hindsight maybe buying that small 1 bed apartment a few years ago (which may of seemed outrageous at the time) may of been a great investment to step onto the expanding property market, but some bemoan and are left stranded and watch others take the bull by the horns and steadily improve their lot...(seen this happen to friends in London also on both sides)

Pom_Chch

Totally subjective though and doesn't apply to everyone. We would never be able to afford the house we have now in NZ in the UK. Probably not even in 10 years time. The size, location, land size and standard of house would not be feasible in the UK, but here it is, which is part of the draw of living here. I don't think we are unique in this instance, a lot of Brits that I have met have said the same thing, particularly those who have purchased lifestyle blocks- compared to the UK you get a lot of land for your money in a lot of areas in NZ.

Bo-Jangles

Yeah, why not bring out all the old chestnuts.

Can't afford to put food on the table and pay for kids shoes but 'Eee by 'eck, life's grand we can now walk on a beach with no people! '