Bluepen

We are a young family based in London and are looking to move to NZ sometime in the next 18 months - 2 years. Initially I thought we would move to Auckland but looking at house prices it feels like we would be moving from our 2 bed London flat to something similar. Am coming back in to NZ on holiday in January, where shall I go look?
Ideally we are looking for somewhere with good weather and that isn't too expensive (ideally don't want to be much more Han £500k, which I'm guessing means Auckland is out of the question).

Any thoughts on clevedon?

jmh

Clevedon is lovely, but expensive. GBP500 is around $NZ1m, so you should pick up a nice house for that. Have a look at The Gardens, Maraetai, Karaka in the south. Probably depends on what job you are looking for.

MrsFychan

on the news last night it stated that if the price increase by the way thy are atm the average house price in Auckland would be a million by the end of the year, so guessing that would out anyone on the first rung of the ladder unless you have been very good at saving, just come into some family money or rob a bank. Price increase in NZ is only second to Qatar and NZ leads the board on the price to salary ratio. New Zealand house price rises outpace all but one country | Stuff.co.nz and don't forget you more than likely need a 20% deposit to put down.

My first thoughts are where are you most likely to get a job, have you looked at the visa options or are you a returning New Zealanders?

Justcol

Depends on where you'll be working.
Anything north of the Bombay's is auckland and
a lot of money will buy you very little.
A recent report found that many new places that
are going up are very fur coat n no nickers

If possible, look at the provinces

desmondo84

We live in Beachlands near Clevedon. Ferry into the city takes 35 mins. Absolutely love it out here although a fair bit of development planned for the next couple of years so the vibe might change I guess. Clevedon is a bit more rural still but nice place alright. 1 mill NZD is a reasonable budget for around this area. Send me a PM if you want more local input.

jmh

I always forget about that ferry - bet it beats sitting in traffic. Is it busy?

desmondo84

Yeah. People used to miss their boat as so popular but they put extra boats on so no issues now. Super service.