Property prices in New Zealand

Pahiatua is a great little place, main industries thus far have been farming and the timber mill so it prime for lateral entrepreneurship. Housing prices are low (between 40K for a fixer-up to 450K in the township itself), with quality being mostly on par with other areas and there is an abundance of willing workers should you be an employer or entrepreneur. Don't expect the fast food empires here though, locals like their kids healthy so McDonalds, when they tried to open - were not welcomed. The schools here are great, very welcoming and embracing as are the locals. Pahiatua (indeed the whole region) have had water quality issues related to intensive farming. Crime is relatively low, you dont hear about race crimes or murders here but not the same could be said about surrounding townships, we mostly hear about someone pinching someone's firewood or stock off their property or someones cat going missing.

Seems almost everyone wants to live in the most expensive city, Auckland.
Location is job dependent. There are moderately priced (in comparison with Auckland) towns in NZ but unless you have a job in or near that location or are prepared to travel to and from work then your choices are limited.

Where I am presently living in NZ is approx 1 hour south of Auckland. House prices have gone up rapidly in last 12 months and rentals are very hard to find, ranging from $250 a week to $400 a week, depending on bedroom numbers and other factors.

A house 2 doors down is now for sale at $450,000. Sold 3 years ago for $230,00. There are houses at $950,00 down to $245,000 with median price being $379,000.

The NZ govt are making it harder for overseas investors to buy and sell real estate by increasing the deposit rate for them. These investors are the cause of skyrocketing house prices in Auckland where prices are often $1 million or more which makes it very hard for locals to get a foot in the door. This then makes many into renters. $600 will not get you much in Auckland.

The town where I now reside is small, good shopping, easy to get around and has all I need. It is where I was born.

I live in a sleepy little place called Temuka on the South Island where in reality there is very little activity in anything . Yet the houses sell here like hot cakes !  A average of about 2-3 weeks however In reality every house I looked at was built to a standard that would not be accepted in Europe or any other so called advanced nation due to poor construction and very little lagging anywhere. You can buy a wooden house for $200000 and to be frank they are not much better than shacks. The standard of houses that were built pre approx 2000 are poor,my house built 1970ish has 6mm gaps round all the windows from when it was built and the inside has hardboard walls! If possible go for a post 2000 built house as they are much better built and insulated but the price reflects this. For anybody thinking of coming to NZ it's a good country but has very poor housing stock compared with say Europe. Don't say you were not warned!

I agree, the housing quality is not of the same standard as Europe and certainly no where near that of the USA. You can find comfortable housing on the North Island where I live, if you look around a bit. It is expensive though. In the USA I paid $1600 month for a 4 bed 3 bath house with a pool. Here that is a 1 bedroom apartment. I would move further south, way south,  where housing is more affordable if I could get a job there. Think San Fransisco as far as housing prices in Auckland go. I live in a small community about 40kilometers from Auckland CBD. I live out here to be on the beach and away from the noise of the city. I would like to live on the South Island in Dunedin where things are much more affordable but will probably have to wait until I retire to do so.

Hallo as it happens my son lives near Dunedin and he had been looking round for a couple of years now and we have gone to some of the viewing days and to put it mildly you would wonder wether a blind person built/repaired some of the buildings we saw. Don't know what it is but we were shocked at some of the states of the houses ie dirty uncleaned , clothes lying everywhere, We got the impression people really don't care about what other people think about their style of living. Anyhow and this is a new one to me, my son put a offer in for a house in South Dunedin and it was accepted, unfortunately the bank refused a mortgage on the building due the internal structure being rotten due to leaking walls which is a common occurrence in Dunedin when checked by a surveyor, not a problem you would think but NO the house owners tried suing my son and the bank! guess what they got laughed out of court but it cost my son money he could ill afford. Anyhow he eventually saw a 5 year old house in a place called Brighton, put a offer in and it was accepted but again the bank would not lend on the property mainly because it had never been passed off by the council or any other authority since being built.!, Anyhow the currents owners were hauled up by the courts and fined and was made to bring the dwelling up to standard, fine but the cheeky beggars tried to pass these costs onto my son! No way says he! stick your house if that's the case. The moral of the story is when buying a house in NZ beware! there are a lot of decent house sellers out there but it seems there`s more than your fair share of dodgy estate agents/ house sellers.

Yes, I have to agree with the previous posts. Be wary of real estate agents here in NZ. I'm fortunate that my house fares  better than the "average" rating (It has been my experience that Real estate agents  in NZ exaggerate quality and location. - I've had agents show me houses in areas where no self respecting streetkid would squat), stating that the areas were up and coming, full of potential. They will try to sell you the worst on their books if they could. Talk to the 'Real Estate Agents Authority - NZ' if agents try to strong arm you or misrepresent properties . Real estate agents are required by law to divulge critical information and are not allowed to over represent interests so ask them "Is there anything I need or should know about the property and area" - they can not hide any information from you including zoning changes; but be warned - you must always perform your own due diligence. REAA NZ has information on buying and selling in NZ and it is strongly advised to read their guidelines.

Hi I am a business man and I am seeking for the property which provides me earning as well as holiday stay in NZ ( studio apartment maintained by hotel's ) Is minimum 50 lakh INR sufficient investment to get PR. Need little guidance towards it.