It is a mixed bag for New Zealand’s economy as 2014 draws to a close.  Housing, in Auckland anyway, is booming with reports of house prices rising at “eye-watering rates” according to valuers QV. The Herald on Sunday reported this week that one in five suburbs had a median house price of $1million or over, 13 in total up from three in 2009. Major banks have reported home owners remortgaging their houses and using the money for a range of things including home improvements, new cars, boats and a holiday home. Property website RealEstate.co.nz recently reported a surge in interest from buyers for properties in traditional holiday-home towns such as Whangamata, indicating perhaps the Auckla…

The property market in Houston continues to perform well, with the city making the top ten US cities with the most US$ 1 million-plus homes sales. Houston ranked number six on the list, beating out Seattle, Boston, Washington DC and Newport Beach, all of which have higher medium house prices. San Francisco topped the list, followed by Los Angeles. San Jose was third with Chicago and San Diego rounding it out. “The luxury home market in Houston is thriving in large part because of the strong and diverse job market,” Redfin agent Tara Waggoner said in the report. “Energy and technology companies like Exxon Mobil are hiring employees away from the coasts. Those people are shocked at how mu…

Skyrocketing prices and low rental returns are seeing investors start to look outside of Auckland for property. Quotable Value recently reported some Auckland suburbs had seen a five per cent price rise in the three to December 2014. Meanwhile the average rental return languishes at around 3.5 per cent. Fairfax Media reported those numbers were driving investors and buyers to other centres such as Hamilton and Tauranga. Harcourts general manager in Hamilton told Fairfax Media his agents had seen “a lot of people coming to town from outside the city, a lot of Aucklanders. “It’s a very attractive place to buy, investment wise, compared to Auckland and what you can buy up there,” he said …