Why your next house should be a new-build

New-builds are a regular part of the housing landscape and are generally either “greenfields” developments or are “infills”. If you were brought up in a New Zealand town or city you can almost certainly think of a greenfields project – an area of new housing development which popped up to accommodate growth and demand. Infill development are generally houses, townhouses, or apartments built in already inhabited areas.

Either way, you should strongly consider buying a new-build if you’re in the market for your first or next property. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, the Reserve Bank's Loan-to-Value (LVR) requirements are lower for new-builds, which means if you’re an owner/occupier, you only need a 10 per cent deposit (rather than a 20 per cent deposit) when buying one. It’s a huge, game-changing, advantage. In Auckland, where the median house price hovers around $850,000, it would mean only having to find an $85,000 (rather than $170,000) deposit.

The second benefit of buying new is that you’ll be buying a modern, well-appointed, property with (as a general rule) a minimum of maintenance required for years to come. Plus, it will comply with the new “healthy homes” standards and is likely to take advantage of sustainable design practices.

The third benefit – for investors – is that a new property is likely to attract better tenants and command a better rent.

As the New Homes section on OneRoof.co.nz shows, there are a number of ways to buy a new-build, which range from doing the whole thing yourself right through to buying through a developer or real estate company.

You can buy a freestanding house, a townhouse or an apartment – and you can either buy “off-the-plan” (where the property is built after you sign the contract) or fully completed. If you’re buying a freestanding home you can also buy something called a “house and land” package, where the developer provides both the land and the house – rather than trying to find your own section to build on. A simple search of OneRoof.co.nz/new-homes will provide you with pages of housing developers.

Securing finance for a new-build is also relatively straightforward. Banks finance them all the time and will pay the developer in agreed “increments” if you’re buying off the plan – although you need to be aware that this may mean paying some interest well before you take possession of the property.

Finally, as the listings on OneRoof.co.nz show, there’s a lot of choice out there.

- Ashley Church is the former CEO of the Property Institute of New Zealand and is now a property commentator for Oneroof.co.nz. Email him at [email protected]