I dreamt of buying a house as soon as we get settled here in NZ. Based on my research, NZ has a high percentage of homeowners so I thought that houses are affordable. Well, reality-check, not anymore!!! The influx of immigrants made the value of properties twice as much for the past 5 years. Of course, supply and demand is basic economics so go figure. Although recently, there has been a price slash caused by the dollar depreciation or whatever but the interest for home loans is increasing too. So, it’s still the same story.
Nevertheless, my sister and I tried browsing for some prospect homes because we’re simply pathetic dreamers hehe. And for months of house hunting (kinda window shopping lang), here are my findings:
1. Most houses are old as 40years or more and the designs are not appealing at all. Look!!!
These four houses are the very common "brick-and-tile" homes here. You see it everywhere as if they only have one architect here in NZ before haha! They are called "units" (like duplex) so the land isn't yours alone. Prices for these houses range from $320,000-$400,000 depending on the size/location.
Also very common here are these weatherboard/hardiplank houses which are newer compared to the brick-and-tile style but less durable. Prices are more or less the same.
What do you think??? Omigolly! my dream would turn out to be a nightmare if I spend 30 years of my life paying a monthly amortization of $3000-5000 for one of these unsightly houses (excluding other expenses like property tax, repairs, etc). In short, soooo not worth it!!!
2. Newer or nicer houses usually cost a whopping price of half to a million dollars. Apparently, we can’t afford that!
3. Other nicer houses that are affordable are found in the far-flung or "unsafe" (a la Bronx) areas. Thanks but no thanks!
Hence, this leaves us one choice: stay in the fantasy of owning a house until further notice. Wish the government’s plan to make housing affordable will push through soon or else the exodus of NZ citizens will never end. Living in this magnificent place is becoming more and more expensive now. If this trend continues, perhaps NZ will become the dreamland of the rich only =(
2. Newer or nicer houses usually cost a whopping price of half to a million dollars. Apparently, we can’t afford that!
3. Other nicer houses that are affordable are found in the far-flung or "unsafe" (a la Bronx) areas. Thanks but no thanks!
Hence, this leaves us one choice: stay in the fantasy of owning a house until further notice. Wish the government’s plan to make housing affordable will push through soon or else the exodus of NZ citizens will never end. Living in this magnificent place is becoming more and more expensive now. If this trend continues, perhaps NZ will become the dreamland of the rich only =(
No comments:
Post a Comment