House And Land Packages - More Affordable Than A House In Auckland

As a result of a recent Productivity Commission's inquiry into home affordability, the New Zealand Government is currently working on ways to reduce house prices. Auckland is seen as the worst affected city in New Zealand. Currently Auckland is ranked as one of the World's most expensive cities to live, with house prices around six times the average wage of the people living there.

This discussion is not new. Over the last 10 years New Zealand has been part of a property boom that has seen house prices increase all over the Country. In fact when incomes are considered, many of New Zealand's centres have become expensive to live.

Reasons for the soaring cost of housing in New Zealand is varied. In Auckland is it primarily a case of supply and demand. To keep up with population growth, Auckland needs 14,000 new homes to be built each year. Currently, only about 7,000 new homes are making it to market, and therefore demand is not being met. This market anomaly drives up the price of housing.

The Commission's report identified one of the problems as being a significant lack of land available for building new homes in Auckland. This is mainly due to Council promoting high density housing, rather than opening new parcels of land for development. This has resulted in more Auckland city suburbs reaching the million dollar mark. Other Councils across the country are also holding back land development to reduce the cost of infrastructure for services such as wastewater treatment.

The government plans to speed up the consent process for new homes, making it easier and cheaper; through changes to the Resource Management and Local Government Acts. This will take time however, and even the government is taking a cautious, go slow, approach so as not to affect house prices too quickly. The reason for this is that most New Zealanders have their house as a retirement investment. So change won't be happening any time soon.

In the mean time, what many people are unaware of is that for half the price of an average house in an outlying Auckland suburb you can buy a house and land package in a coastal centre such as Gisborne. With house and land packages, developers have usually chosen stunning locations in new subdivisions. Not only do you get to choose your section, but you get a selection of house plans to choose from, all within your budget. Imagine living in one of sunniest parts of the Country, and having enough money left over to enjoy life.

The Gisborne District Council website outlines business opportunities in the region, and with nearly 3,000 existing businesses there are plenty of employment opportunities also. Envisage a new home, with a decent size section, and a low stress lifestyle. Moving out of the city is not only a great idea for you, but your family will benefit from moving away from the stresses of city life, especially the relentless traffic.

So if you are one of the unlucky people finding it difficult to find a decent property for your dollar, think about a house and land package in another centre to get more value for your money. With mortgage rates at an historic low, now is a great time to build.

Generation Homes is a multi-award winning home building company with locations across New Zealand.

Generation Homes guarantee a move-in date the day for their customers. This guaranteed delivery date, a fixed price contract and a complete turnkey house and land package takes the stress out of home building for customers.

The Truth About Shadow Inventory In Phoenix Real Estate Market

With a little bit of analysis, the claim that there is a tremendous shadow inventory on the Phoenix real estate market is easily banished. Unfortunately, homeowners and homebuyers are oftentimes led off the path by faulty reporting, even in major news outlets. There are resources that can be inspected to get a precise evaluation of how much inventory may be available and that is currently with lenders.

Erroneous Reporting

Reuters, one of the biggest news agencies in the world, announced in July of 2012 that price gains in Phoenix - and other so-called foreclosure-heavy cities such as Miami - are largely because banks own a great deal of inventory that they're not putting on the market. The reason given for this is a possible scandal due to robo-signing on the part of banks. Unfortunately, the information put out in the media is inaccurate.

In the Phoenix market, at least, if the banks were to let the inventory that they currently hold onto the market, it would make a trivial or no difference at all in the prices for homes, specifically considering how much demand has increased over the last year.

Not That Many

The Cromford Report follows the amount of inventory that is held by lenders. This tracking is only attainable by subscription, but it keeps record of Phoenix real estate inventory unequivocally. According to these reports, there aren't even 5,900 residential properties in the hands of lenders. Almost half of them are already active, some of them are pending sales and others are off of the market on ARMLS, according to Arizona Real Estate Trends.

Of the inventory not included in that number, lots of them are under leases and are occupied by tenants. The reporting mentions that, even if that housing inventory was released onto the market, it would account for less than two weeks of inventory in the Phoenix real estate market. This would not have any significant effect on the prices of homes in the overall market. In fact, in a healthy real estate market, the inventory is usually somewhere in the neighborhood of six month's worth of properties.

Not Many Foreclosures

Another popular conception is that Arizona is one of the worst states in the nation as far as foreclosure rates go. In fact, Arizona has a foreclosure rate that is below the national average. Currently, according to the reporting, Arizona has approximately 5.9 percent of its homes which are 30 days delinquent and not yet in foreclosure. The national average for that same figure is 7.6 percent. As for homes that are more than 30 days delinquent and that are in foreclosure, Arizona has a rate of 8.7 percent, while the nation as a whole has an average of 11.3 percent.

Though the two states are often mentioned side-by-side in real estate reporting, Florida has a 21.3 percent rate of loans that are 30 days or more past due and that are in foreclosure, establishing that Arizona is in better shape than is portrayed in the media. Shadow inventory on the Arizona real estate market, quite simply, is a fabrication.