What the Media Doesn't Tell You About the Property Market

Open the news on any given week and you'll find an economist predicting what interest rates, house prices, or the OCR will do next. A few weeks later, someone else is predicting the exact opposite.

Even Warren Buffett has been sceptical of economic forecasting. In a 2016 interview, he said he doesn't pay much attention to economists' predictions and questioned how useful they are for making investment decisions. His point wasn't that economists aren't smart. It was that accurately predicting the future is incredibly difficult.

That's been our experience too.

Forecasts can be useful, but they're still forecasts. Nobody knows with certainty what the market will do next, and the people making the predictions aren't the ones who have to live with the outcome. You are.

After years of helping families buy and sell homes across East Auckland, we've learned one thing:

There are just as many people achieving great outcomes in today's market as there were in the last one.

The headlines tend to focus on what's gone wrong. They rarely talk about the families who successfully sold, made a move that suited their needs, and improved their situation.

Winning isn't always about achieving the highest sale price on the street. It's about your property helping you get where you want to go next.

More Space, Without the Financial Strain

We recently worked with owners who had outgrown their two-bedroom unit. By selling in the current market, they were able to purchase a three-bedroom, two-bathroom freehold home with only a modest increase to their mortgage.

A few years ago, they would have assumed that upgrade was out of reach. Instead, they ended up with more space, more land, and a better lifestyle, without significantly changing their repayments.

A Lower Sale Price, But Still a Positive Outcome

In another case, a seller accepted a price lower than they had originally hoped for.

At first glance, that might sound disappointing.

However, when we looked at the bigger picture, including the equity they had built since purchasing the property, the outcome was still a positive one. The sale allowed them to move forward with confidence and begin the next chapter of their lives.

Both sellers achieved what they set out to do.

Neither decision was based on trying to predict the market.

So What Should You Focus On?

Instead of waiting for experts to agree, focus on the factors you can control:

• Have you outgrown your home? Or perhaps the children have moved out and it's now larger than you need.

• What's changing in your life? A new job, growing family, retirement, or a lifestyle shift can all be reasons to make a move.

• What does your financial position look like? Not the national average, but your equity, mortgage position, and long-term goals.

The reality is that timing the market perfectly is a game very few people win.

Making the right move at the right time for you is something you can plan for.

And in our experience, that's what leads to the best outcomes.