Articles
Current state of the real estate market in Auckland
The Auckland property market appears to have reverted to a “normal’ state. Since the mid-1970s the average house price in Auckland has risen from $30,000.00 to over $1,000,000.00. House prices are 33.33 times more expensive than they were in 1975. That represents a $23,000.00 pa increase each year on average. However that’s not the way it works from year to year. In... > Read more
ARE REAL ESTATE FEES CHARGED BY REAL ESTATE AGENTS IN NEW ZEALAND FAIR?
The average time taken by an agent to sell a property is around 25 hrs (its actually 20 hrs but I will say 25hrs to be as fair as I can be.) An REINZ member agent’s fee @ $3.5% on $700,000.00 is on average $24,500.00 plus GST. That equates to an hourly rate of $980.00 per hour. If a... > Read more
LEAKY HOMES – Is it the biggest fraud perpetrated on New Zealand by the NZ Government?
In 2004 the Building Act of 1991 was repealed and new legislation was enacted by the NZ Government. The purpose of the new Act is stated as being to set up a licencing regime for building practitioners and for the setting of standards for such things as safety to ensure the health of building... > Read more
CASE - GU V DU [2011] NZCA 577
This is a case where the parties had entered into an agreement to develop and sell property. A Joint Venture Agreement (“JVA”) executed by the parties. At the time the agreement was signed a listing agreement was in force between Mr Gu and the company for which Mr Du worked. As a... > Read more
ACRES – Helping vendors to take advantage of the changes on real estate selling
The act of property selling has radically changed with the advent of the internet. We see this every day now in the way people respond to and deal with information which they get online. In New Zealand the foremost internet site for selling property is Trademe. The site receives 1.4 million... > Read more
CASE - ANZ Bank V Manthorpe
This is a case where the Defendants had been unable to pay their mortgage payments on their investment properties and as a result were issued a Property Law Act Notice by the bank. The Notice expired and the two properties were sold. The Defendant’s argued that the bank didn’t do... > Read more
The Property Lawyer - Lawyers Challenge Traditional Real Estate model
The Property Lawyer back in April published a great article about ACRES. To read the article, download the full PDF here. > Read more
The State of the Real Estate industry
Consumer recently posted an article on the state of the real estate industry. A worthy read, go to consumer.org.nz to read the article. > Read more
Recent Leaky Home Case
Here is a case which was recently decided in the High Court. Mr and Mrs Adams had a leaky home. They had the home fixed and then did nothing for some years. Several years after fixing the home they decided to bring a claim against potentially liable parties. Luckily for Mr and Mrs... > Read more
Recent Case Law and Statute Developments
At ACRES we know the importance of being up to date with the latest caselaw from the Courts and changes in law from Parliament. As a consequence we intend to bring you a case or two of note each month and keep you abreast of any Parliamentary developments. 1. Abolition of Gift Duty It was... > Read more
The ACRES Philosophy
The ACRES philosophy is centred around three basic principles – Price, Presentation and Promotion. We believe that if you get all three of these right you will substantially increase the... > Read more
More Lawyers Should Sell Real Estate
By Craig Sisterson LAWYERS HAVE to take advantage of the opportunity they’ve been given to sell real estate, because it will mean clients get a much fairer and more cost-effective service,... > Read more
Lawyers Launch New Real Estate Alternative
A group of Auckland Lawyers are involved in launching a new real estate initiative which they believe will offer a true alternative from that which is currently offered by real estate agents. Not... > Read more
Updates for Property Market March 2011
There is no doubt that the property market in Auckland does not appear to be as buoyant as it has been over the past couple of years. However looking at historical evidence it would appear that the... > Read more