jmh

I agree each circumstance is different. You will find it easier if you make a five year plan based on your priorities. It's not about NZ vs UK. Make a plan for your return to the UK. If you are going back to where you were you presumeably have a better idea of the financial picture.

Here are some stories that might inspire you: I have a single female friend who bought a house when she was 40. She works on the production line of a factory in Glen Innes. I know a couple who work in the same factory. He days, she nights (gets good money doing shift work and they don't have to pay for childcare). The own a house, have 4 children at school. Gotta be said life is not easy for them. A colleague of theirs who is also a single female in the factory is buying a her second house for her grown up son who is going to rent it from her.

jmh

By the way, I should also add, some people prioritise being a stay-at-home mum to support their children instead of getting on the property ladder, or they make other sacrifices to do that. That's a great choice too. Buying a house is not everything. You may be better off renting and making those other lifestyle choices. It's a case of each person deciding what is important to them.

davros1984

I have to disagree there. Apartments in Auckland are barely that, they are more like hotel rooms. And at 400-600K NZD, they can get stuffed. You can buy good quality 3-bed houses in a lot of major cities in the UK for less than 400K NZD.

In NZ, you are better off looking at other cities than Auckland.

TommyLuck

That depends on what you are looking at buying a property for.


It not only comes down to what money you've got, but also what you value or what you are prepared to live in and location. This is subjective and there is no right or wrong answer.

Some people want their dream home, some people want a 'do up', some people want to make money. Some might be looking to take a bit of each over time.

We could've bought a 3 bed in Mt Eden. Bought 2 apartments instead, thinking of the longer term 'investment'.

I suppose we're fortunate to have options and many people think were made to be living in an apartment in Auckland with a kid.

They can't seem to grasp the long game I'm looking to pay here - they see the here and now.

Perhaps this is part of the wider problem generally with money and debt. Some blow it all over the place not really considering the consequences until they realise they're up the proverbial creek.

bearskin

No surprise there. I am positive about Auckland, you're not. It is what it is.

You've contradicted yourself there. The cheap apartments are like hotel rooms in some cases, but the prices of those are not the prices you've quoted. A nice sized apartment in one of the most desirable blocks/locations might get to those prices, but not the ones aimed at people getting on the ladder.

True, but they wouldn't be the main city, which is what Auckland is to NZ.

pippalonghorn

I'm still searching for them houses that are only $30k. Where are they hiding? Probably in locations where there are no jobs.

bearskin

Mataura has traditionally held the title of cheapest house to buy in NZ

Linky: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=11118286

It is where Justin Marshall, the legendary NZ rugby player is from. In a fantabulous part of the country. Invercargill - further down from there - famously used to be the place where you get a free University degree.

I'm expecting cries of "I don't want to live in Mataura" now. And, I'm not trying to say that you do want to - just that there are choices for those who are prepared to make them. In fact, after breathing... everything you do is a choice.

davros1984

Once again, I have to disagree. I am positive about Auckland - it is a great place to experience and live in. I am negative about the state of the housing market and lack of public transport infrastructure.

I understand apartment living in the city and immediate areas, but some of the outer burbs? Madness when there is all that space and land to build on.

Here are what I mean by hotel-like apartments for 400-600K.
a) http://www.realestate.co.nz/2123686
b) http://www.realestate.co.nz/2155887
c) http://www.realestate.co.nz/2150126

Wellington is the capital city of NZ. I know I am splitting hairs there... Auckland may have more of a commercial standing than Wellington, but "main" is a very loose term.

However, I'd argue that Manchester, Birmingham and Glasgow are at least on the same footing as Auckland, yet there is affordable HOUSES (not boxy apartments) within a 30 minute commute of those cities, oh and again... lots of public transport.

bearskin

You're making yourself look daft there. One of those is an apartment split into two - so you'd live in one and get rental from the other. Another looks like a 4-bed place, and the other one for $469K is as big as some houses - a palace of an apt.

I didn't say capital... I said the main city in the country. You disagree?

davros1984

Then we disagree - which is fine. For me, those places are not worth the money they are advertised at, nor would I consider them to be long-term places one could live or raise a family in.

Even if I did have the deposit to buy a $470K apartment, not for the life of me could I part with that amount of money for that.

Yes I disagree that Auckland is the main city, in fact this is one of the major issues with NZ, trying to make it all about Auckland. Whilst Auckland is the biggest city, it is not the city where the government are, nor where key decisions for the country as a whole are made.

Snap Shot

John Key lives in Auckland. I rest my case.

Purrball

C'mon. This is utterly silly. And I write this as a former Wellingtonian, born and bred.

Auckland contains somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3rd of New Zealand's population, depending on where you draw its boundaries. It's as much New Zealand's main city as Dublin is to Ireland. What's more, it's by far New Zealand's largest international gateway for flights in and out of the country and New Zealand's busiest shipping port... and as can be seen by the number of head offices in the city, international music acts who come and only play Auckland and containing the only stadium that can host more than 50,000 people, it's the epicentre of the bulk of industry and commerce in the country, representing about 35% of the country's GDP, compared to Wellington's approx 14-15%.

Just as importantly, it also is taking huge steps towards a unitary authority and is slowly working towards a much-improved and integrated public transport infrastructure, leaving Wellington and its environs in its wake which are far more geographically-restricted in terms of being hemmed in by sea and hilly ranges, let alone the ongoing squabbling over local authority mergers. Wellington might be where Parliament is, but the largest number of MPs and seats are from the Auckland region.

As a Kiwi, when you spend some time away from the country and revisit after many years, ridding yourself of petty parochial city one-upmanship, Auckland seems like the only outward looking city, far more culturally diverse than anywhere else in the country. Many of my friends in Wellington endlessly ran down Auckland while comparing itself to the city, in the way that people in the UK often slag off London, but parts of Wellington, to my eye at least, seemed quite small and shabby. And tt's all very well for some to say to people to buy property in Invercargill to get a step on the housing ladder, but where are the jobs in Invercargill?

Saying that, although returning to New Zealand after over 20 years away, I felt the most comfortable in Auckland and less claustrophobic than in Wellington, I don't find it a particularly interesting city, but more akin to a sprawl like LA.

shocked kiwi

davros1984

you make a very fair point. just a pity john key doesnt spend more time here and he might see how appauling aucklands public transport is.

Snap Shot

You would think he would get a clear view from his helicopter.