Is Hamilton Next?

[Wayne]

nothing to see here - move along now

[Shane D]

Hi Shane - I'm starting to look at the Hamilton market now and came across this thread, did you end up making a purchase after all?

Flying Kiwi,

I am still living in Taiwan but I have started to track Hamilton new listings on Trademe. I am waiting until I move back to NZ at the beginning of next year.

Shane

[speights boy]

Interesting comment re FOMO.
A more rational market there ?

Buyer fear gone from Hamilton housing market

Lodge Real Estate’s managing director, Jeremy O’Rourke, said February’s residential real estate numbers released by the Real Estate Institute of NZ (REINZ) today point to the fact buyers’ ‘fear of missing out’ is virtually gone from the Hamilton housing market.

[grip]

“We expect that the number of first home buyers entering the market will increase in the coming months. We are starting to see first home buyers finding more ways to finance their entry into the market.”

ie credit card debt, personal loans and guarantees from mum/dad which is what's happening in Auckland.

For those of you active in Hamilton - I wonder what your observations are.
If no one buying the houses under $350K, are vendors accepting lower offers or just happy waiting?

[Ahar]

Has anyone else noticed that a few weeks ago the number of Hamilton listings suddenly dropped?

There were a LOT of sales.....all within a week of one another....some areas such as Claudlands and Hamilton East sold half the total number of listings

Made me think that there is a very active investment group in the Hamilton market.

[grip]

Ahar

Actually the opposite is true. The number of houses sold DROPPED.

Statement from Lodge: "We only had 193 sales last month, when the past two years were 247 in February 2013 and 245 in February 2012".

[Ahar]

Ahar

Actually the opposite is true. The number of houses sold DROPPED.

Statement from Lodge: "We only had 193 sales last month, when the past two years were 247 in February 2013 and 245 in February 2012".

Ok, so what happened then.....did vendors suddenly take their houses off the market?

And if this happened, it still seems really strange.....as I said, the number of listings fell by about a half.

[speights boy]

Weren't Hamilton agents lead agitators in the trademe scuffle ?

[grip]

Ok, so what happened then.....did vendors suddenly take their houses off the market?

And if this happened, it still seems really strange.....as I said, the number of listings fell by about a half.

Basically the agents took the listings off TM

[Ahar]

Aaaah.....mystery solved

Many thanks

[Deep Blue]

Hi Wayne- can you recommend any areas to check out or stay away from?
I'm want to start doing day trips to Hamilton to get a feel for some of the areas, would def save me some time, prob looking for a 2 bed unit.
Many thanks

[speights boy]

Well, hardly any surprise this is the end result.

Ghost town: Project now a house boneyard

Troy Hung, who is involved in selling the properties on behalf of LV Park, said construction had halted while the company waited for funds.

He said the company had been trying to sell the completed houses to raise money for construction, "but they are not easy houses to sell, only because the demand for 9-bedroom houses is a niche market".

The houses, around 500 square metres each, are being marketed on greengardens.co.nz for between $1.69 million and $1.79m.

The website also lists properties for sale in Karaka, Papakura, Orewa, and Huntly - several of which are incomplete.
Hung said LV Park had built between 80 and 100 houses in the last four years and had sold almost all of them.

He said the company was trying to find buyers for the Tamahere properties in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Australia, and New Zealand.
He said LV Park would complete the houses this year regardless of sales, but didn't know where the money would come from.

Tamahere residents have raised concerns with Waikato District Council that two of the completed houses were being used as student accommodation, which could qualify as commercial activity.

LV Park agreed in 2013 to covenants which disallowed using the houses as commercial hostels or student accommodation.

Hung said he had not visited the properties recently and did not know who was living there.
LV Park director Gang Wang, known as Thomas Wang, did not respond to calls on the matter.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/business/66776587/Ghost-town-Project-now-a-house-boneyard

[speights boy]

This is the original article from 2013.

Tamahere residents angry at 'family' housing development

Waikato District Council is investigating the development after a resident raised concerns that eight massive houses being built on Hart Rd were intended to be used as hostel-type housing for students.

But the Waikato-based housing developer says such claims are untrue.
"They are for big families. I have never built for students," Thomas Wang of construction company LV Park, said.

He owns eight properties in a development area and has applied to build single-storey houses, with eight or nine bedrooms.

Each will have adjoining ensuites, in addition to a media room, office and lounge and central courtyard area.

The homes also appear to have external sliding doors in every bedroom, with the application saying they were for residential use.

Mr Wang is adamant the houses are appropriately zoned and the correct procedures have been followed and said buyers were lined up for the homes already.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/8616414/Tamahere-residents-angry-at-family-housing-development

[Damap]

doesn't everybody in Hamilton have 9 beds and loos per house?

[Anthonyacat]

My father in law early last year finished building an 8-bed, 6-bath (...3-story, 3-kitchen, 4-lounge...) home on the hill in Pakuranga. Was intended to be a home for his extended family (Indians, but I understand this isn't uncommon in other Asian cultures). After two grandparents died last year he has been trying periodically to sell it. He still can't understand why no one seems to want it.