This couple changed how I think about average house price data
You might think that looking at the average house price data might be quite boring. But this impacts real people and their money lives.
I’d just finished speaking at an event in Christchurch when a pair of first-home buyers approached me. They were in their late 20s and wanted to start a family.
But they really wanted to buy a house first.
They’d tried to get a foot on the property ladder a few years back. But the bank said no. They couldn’t borrow enough to afford the house they wanted.
What happened next changed the way I think about data.
They came up to me and said: “Ed, it shocked us when you showed that graph of the average house price in Christchurch falling. We didn’t realise that house prices went down over $80 grand in a single year!
“We tried buying a house before but couldn’t get the bank to say yes. Our deposit will go way further now. We’re going to talk to our mortgage broker tomorrow.”
That happened back in mid-2023. So, the numbers have changed now.
But, 2 months later, I was sitting at my desk. And an email pops into my inbox.
They’d just had an offer accepted on a property and were looking forward to moving in.
The point is – you might look at the numbers on this page and think they’re a bit nerdy or academic. But, seeing this data changed everything for those first-home buyers.
So, what could this data mean for you?
It might encourage you to talk to a mortgage broker or look further into the property market. Perhaps you can buy a house sooner than you thought.
Or maybe house prices have gone up, and maybe you now have more equity in your property. That might mean you can now afford an investment property when you couldn’t before.
The important part is to figure out what these numbers mean for you and your property journey.
