First Home Buyers Weekly Wrap – 12th May 2015

Meet First Home Buyers Brett and Jenna

Back in late August last year  Brett and Jenna contacted The First Home Buyers Club to arrange a planning meeting. After their first meeting they were thrilled to learn that had a sufficient enough deposit using their Kiwisavers, some other savings and a first home buyer subsidy to apply for a home loan pre approval. After gathering all the required documentation, The First Home Buyers Club had their loan pre approved and in October Brett and Jenna went house hunting!  Read More

At The First Home Buyers Club, we are here to help every step of the way, from saving your first dollar to moving in and everything in between! The best way to turn your dream to reality is to have a plan and thats something we can help with! Our planning service will help you tailor your own Homeownership plan.

Start your journey to home ownership – book your planning meeting today!

New cost threat to first-home buyers

A strategy being used by beleaguered first home buyers to get onto Auckland’s expensive property ladder is likely to get more costly, and some are not happy about it.

We were asked for our opinion of the planned move and here was our response:

Karen Lewis, the founder of The First Home Buyers Club, said: “There are more first-time home buyers buying property as an investment while continuing to rent. It is their stepping stone onto the property ladder, and it would be really disappointing if they were somehow penalised.”

“My wish would be that if they go down this track, they have some sort of exemption,” Read More

Meanwhile news of Auckland’s booming property market made it to the New York Times.

New York Times spreads word of Auckland housing boom

We may be a “remote island straddling the Tasman Sea”, but Auckland’s little property boom has been noted by the New York Times – especially in terms of offshore buyers.

A piece published on May 7 describes Auckland’s “beaches, clean air and environmentally friendly image” as a clear selling point, especially for foreign buyers. Read More

Nick Smith: Affordable housing needs speed up

Housing Minister Nick Smith is reminding Auckland Council of Government’s power to override local government if it does not co-operate on speeding up the supply of affordable housing.

The construction of between 2000 to 3000 homes in northwest Auckland has hit a roadblock after Auckland Council refused consents for three special housing areas. Read More

Guest Post From Robyn Forryan: Just how important is sunshine?

As winter approaches it is a great time to consider how important it is to you to have as much sunshine as possible shining into your house.  It is possible to change the layout and décor of a house but it’s not really possible to change it’s angle to the sun so having a sunny home depends on 3 things: Read More

VIDEO: Campbell Live – What can $600k buy you in New Zealand?

What sort of house can you buy in New Zealand for $600,000?

The Campbell Live team looked at house listings in central Auckland, outer suburbs of Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Read More

Government targets property investors for increased tax scrutiny

Finance Minister Bill English announced the Government is proposing to increase Inland Revenue’s resources to target people profiteering out of Auckland’s housing market.

The announcement hints that the increased funding will be allocated in this month’s budget.

Inland Revenue has a Property Compliance Programme (PCP) which identifies property sales where income tax should have been paid, but was not.

The PCP’s investigation and enforcement activities netted additional tax of $53 million for the year ended June 2014.  This is a lucrative return on the government’s annual investment of $6.65 million in the PCP Read More