Upper Hutt real estate blasts off!
Hi folks,
I can confirm that the property market in Upper Hutt in 2016 has started with not so much a bang but a nuclear explosion! Continuing the increasing sales activity we saw towards the end of 2015, which turned out to be, with 825 sales, the top selling year since 2007!
So what’s the forecast from this point? Well, after a weekend with 7 offers on 4 properties and my phone ringing red hot I’m only forecasting good things! Finally a great number of people are out of negative equity and while the timing of the rise in price was expected as cycles tend to last 8-10 years, the way we arrived at this market certainly came as a surprise.
A year ago most economists thought interest rates were likely to rise through 2015 and into 2016. Reserve Bank Governor Graeme Wheeler even warned just before Christmas 2014 that the Official Cash Rate would rise another 100 basis points to 4.5% by the end of 2015, which would have pushed floating mortgage rates up near 8%.
Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for many borrowers, Governor Wheeler was wrong. Oil prices and dairy prices slumped through 2015, dragging inflation much lower than he and many other economists expected. That forced him to cut the Official Rate back to a record low 2.5% and saw the average two year fixed mortgage rate fall from almost 6% to 4.5% in early 2016.
The forecast for 2016: They could fall even more as inflation remains well below the 1-3% target band that Governor Wheeler is supposed to deliver. ASB and Westpac are predicting he will have to cut two more times to 2% in the middle of 2016 to lift inflation up into that target range. That would push fixed mortgage rates substantially below 4%, and make homes much easier to afford for investors and first home buyers alike.
If you are thinking of selling your home, would like an appraisal, or want more information on the Upper Hutt property market please call me on the numbers below or contact me via email steve@steveslicker.com alternately fill in your details here on my website.
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Kind regards, (04) 212 6787
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