PROPERTY MARKET

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 292, 10 September 1928, Page 10

PROPERTY MARKET

A DULL PERIOD Land and- estate agents agree that the property market in Wellington has been the reverse of lively during the last few months. That does not mean that there has been any lack of sellers. One city agent informed a “Dominion” reporter that he doubted whether be had ever had so many properties for sale on his books, but he explained that a good number of them were ou account of people who made a business of buying and selling houses. Whilst this had been the case, he said, there had been no material reduction in prices, save perhaps here and there where there was a forced sale.' The residential property market and suburban land sales were dull, perhaps a little more so than they usually were at tho end of winter, but with the coming of spring there might be a revival. In regard to suburban land sales, he said that the slackness had been brought about to some extent by the large number of building sections in the Hutt Valley which had been sold by the Government on very easy termsA factor which had militated against people going in for city house property as an investment, he declared, was the heavy increase in the rate demands this year, with the promise of another rise next year. There was- a limit to what any house would return (in rent) on the capital cost, but there was apparently going to be no limit to the rates imposed on properties, with new hospital demands, new public libraries, and new civic blocks coming along. As a natural corollary there was a less keen desire manifested for house property as an investment, and money was being put into solid financial ocncerns as a “safety first” precant ion. It also had to be borne in mind that the post-war house shortage had been overcome. One could never, perhaps, supply all the houses that were needed within the city proper, but the activity which had been shown in building in Miramar, Island Bay, Karori. Melrose, Petone, and Lower Hutt had completely eased the situation, and the sales of sections by the Government at the Hutt guaranteed a continuance of that activity for many months to come. Inquiries are beginning to be made for seaside places for the summer holiday period.