OPTIMISM ABOUNDS
Happy New Year to our faithful readers/clients, hope you had a better break than I did.
Two nights at Pauanui feeding 23 twenty year olds and cleaning up after them, wistfully remembering the carefree days of youth….but it was fun.
Then flights to Wellington to oversee a very frail aunt.
Rather reflectful on my own mortality.
However I’ve been keeping up with what news there has been and it’s all positive.
Our trading partners, Australia and China are in a far stronger position than most countries and our banks are intact.
Our housing market has recovered to 2007 levels and December for us was a record month.
I am even hopeful that January, our loss month, has a chance of breakeven.
(Yes, I will tell you).
The skeleton crew over Christmas has been literally inundated with new buyers, mainly owner-occupiers and this bodes very well for maintaining or improving capital values.
And Stephanie who heads up our R & M (Rentals and Management) team reports that we have suffered far fewer vacancies over the summer period than usual where fewer tenants have gone awol and the hunt for accommodation has also started early.
We are managing to lift some rents but doing it selectively and pretty carefully.
It’s my first full day back and now my brain is starting to hurt so it might be Prego for lunch and an early swim.
And Tee, my trainer at Les Mills is starting me again tomorrow and he’s not going to like what he sees.
But we’re POSITIVE and it’s going to be a great year!
Stay in touch.
Cheers for January,
Martin
MANAGING DIRECTOR
