NZ property prices record slight monthly decline

The latest monthly Quotable Value (QV) House Price Index shows that New Zealand residential property values for January actually decreased from a month earlier – although on year-by-year basis they were up substantially.

The figures show that between the end of December 2015 and the end of January 2016, property prices fell by 0.3 per cent – largely the result of a 0.5 per cent decrease in the Auckland.

However, the national average property price has risen by 12.6 per cent over the past year and by 0.7 per cent over the past three months. The average value nationwide is now NZ$556,206 – 34.2 per cent above the previous market peak of late 2007.

Home values in the Auckland region have also risen 19.8 per cent year on year and 1.2 per cebt over the past three months and are now 70 per cent higher than they were at the previous peak. The average property value in the Auckland region is now NZ$928,921.

Bearing in mind that Auckland is by far and away the most popular region in New Zealand for newcomers to settle in, if you’re planning on calling the country’s largest city your home in the near future, the you are going to need to do everything you can to make every pound – or NZ Dollar – towards your house purchase count.

One simple way you can make a substantial saving – or rather gain – is to get the best exchange rate possible when the time comes to changing your Pounds to Dollars.

Put simply, when exchanging large lump sums, only small fluctuations in exchange rates can have a huge impact on how much money you’ll end up with.

For example, imagine you managed to sell your property in the UK three months ago and had £150,000 to spend. If you had exchanged immediately, then on 10th November you would have received NZ$2.30 for every £1 exchanged – making a total of NZ$345,000. However, if you had of decided to wait a few months to see if the rate would rise, then you will have been disappointed. As of 12th February the rate was down to £1=NZ$2.18 – or just NZ$327,000; a not unsubstantial NZ$18,000 less.

Of course, there is no guarantee of choosing the absolute best time to exchange. But taking expert advice from a specialist currency exchange firm like Halo Financial can certainly help.

Foreign exchange companies understand why the exchange rates are moving and just what impact this has on your currency transaction so can give you at least some indication of when the market could move favourably. What’s more, they can also provide you with a range of options on when you should consider exchanging, and how much you should exchange at a time.

To find out how you can make sure you can take advantage of positive fluctuations in the market and exchange your currency at the right time to get the best possible, visit www.halofinancial.com