Sunday 29 March 2015

Manager's Comments 30-3-15

The Aussie cricket team did what great teams do. They lifted their intensity, played at the top of their skill set, and most importantly, they ‘knew’ they would win. They believed. They are cricket’s All Blacks. They find a way to win the tough ones and the big ones. Given the stage, they perform.
Your Harcourts Agent is a similar beast. We train & train. We practice and we study so that on ‘game day’, when there is negotiation in the air, we win. We win for you. We do need some help though. A level playing field. We need to be in the game, just like the sports teams. Take advice from your expert, skilled, fit and focused agent. Get the marketing right, get the pricing right, (or take it away), give us a big game. We will find a way to win for you; just like the All Blacks do for us and the Aussie cricketers do for them. Put us in the game. We know how to win.

John Christiansen

Sunday 15 March 2015

Manager's Comments 16-3-15

The sales statistics for February are out, and once again demonstrate a very flat market. Only 66 New Plymouth sales, median price slips $14k to $373,000.
The competition is not from the active buyers though; it’s other properties on the market. The buyers will buy something, the best comparative value they can find. To make a sale, at some point you need to provide the best comparative value in your niche of the market. Are you positioned to do that?
 

John Christiansen

Monday 9 March 2015

Manager's Comments 3-3-15

Well deja vu. Oddly we have sold exactly the same number of NP residential properties for 3 months in a row. It seems like Ground Hogg Day when I look at the statistics again. This is actually somewhat expected though; we seem to be going through a period of very steady selling, with unspectacular volumes. Sales are right across the price and location spectrum. Buyers are active in all sections of the market. What they do have in common is short arms and long pockets. Offers are very conservative and their choices are increasing daily. Money is plentiful; many 90% mortgages are again available. I am still confident we will continue to see solid if unspectacular sales numbers through 2015. Capital growth like inflation, seems to be banished from the landscape. Treat any offers with respect, buyers lose interest in difficult negotiations quite quickly, and just move onto the next opportunity.

John Christiansen