By Ryan Mitchell – National Manager of Century 21 New Zealand
There's been much discussion about New Zealand adopting a Capital Gains Tax (CGT) with possible targets including property investors, farms and holiday homes. Notably and importantly the Tax Working Group recommended keeping the family home out of any CGT scheme.
Another key factor to note is that while the Government-established Tax Working Group wrote a report and made recommendations, it's now up to the three political parties in Government to come to some consensus. That's the tricky part.
The leading governing party, Labour, has been increasingly lukewarm about a far-reaching CGT, while coalition partner New Zealand First has historically been vehemently opposed to the idea. Only the Green Party seemed to welcome the prospect of a CGT with open arms.
Opposition parties National and Act are having a field day winding everyone up about a CGT destroying 'the Kiwi way of life', with many New Zealanders probably thinking it's somewhat fait accompli. But far from it. The public reaction has been largely negative, and with a General Election next year, Government MPs will no doubt tread cautiously.
However, the biggest concern probably still lies with investment properties. If investors get stung with a CGT, the likes of the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand believe many landlords will simply exit the market, just when the country needs a strong supply of rental stock more than ever.
Again, let's wait and see. Come April we'll apparently know more once the Government has formally considered the report. One thing's for sure the Tax Working Group won't get their way on everything.
Industry numbers keep rolling out, with nothing terrible newsworthy to report. Auckland has cooled while parts of regional New Zealand continue to enjoy strong price growth.
Real estate continues to do well in our capital city, with 2018 another great year for Century 21 in Wellington, with the office taking out several titles at our recent Annual Awards Gala Dinner in Auckland.
I want to take the opportunity to single out one of Century 21's rising stars. In 2016 Jeh Wasti started his real estate career at Century 21 First Choice Realty in Wellington. By the end of 2018 he was Century 21 New Zealand's Top Salesperson for the Year (for Gross Closed Commission).
The 33-year-old salesperson was not only honoured for this, but he also took away the prestigious Centurion Award. This puts him among the top two percent of Century 21's global workforce of over 130,000 salespeople in over 7,500 locations.
Attracting, retaining, and growing young and talented salespeople like Jeh is huge for Century 21. It's certainly what drives me, and I can't wait to see more of it.
Having franchise owners like Joe Lupi in Wellington who passionately believe in the brand and genuinely love real estate can only rub off on their team. It's also great energy for buyers and sellers alike.
Blitzing the 2018 awards, the Wellington office has well and truly cemented themselves as market leaders. Importantly they have also shown themselves as being prepared to invest in the future and develop and support news salespeople coming through.
Getting around the country as National Manager since October last year, what's really blown me away is how all our franchises work collectively and positively as a family. No one's out trying to steal listings or undermine colleagues as you can witness with other companies.
Century 21 franchise owners, salespeople and support staff all put their clients, the properties, and their community first. That's what gives us a point of difference in what is an increasingly competitive and tough industry. Not to mention of course our far-reaching global spread and all the technology and support we have in place!
Another place that featured prominently in Century 21 New Zealand's fourth quarter and annual awards for 2018 was the North Waikato town of Huntly – just over one hour south of Auckland.
Based on Huntly's Main Street, Century 21 Rural and Residential Real Estate was awarded Top Office for the Quarterfor Units (the number of properties listed and sold), beating all other Century 21 offices in New Zealand.
Co-owner of the Huntly franchise Ian Pepper won all-round Top Principal for the Quarter. His business partner and salesperson Barbara Craig was also recognised for her considerable sales success. While New Zealand Rookie of the Year went to rising Huntly star, Pescha Eccles.
For Huntly, like many of New Zealand's smaller towns that are in commuter proximity to our cities, the future only looks bright. As well as having Auckland up the motorway, Hamilton City is only about 30 minutes down the road.
As well as good proximity, Huntly benefit from the weekday Hamilton to Auckland passenger train service that's proposed from next year. Then there's the ongoing multi-billion-dollar State Highway One extensions and improvements. For the upper North Island this will mean in the next couple of years we'll have one motorway from Warkworth in North Auckland to south of Cambridge in the Waikato.
Improving roading and public transport options is gold for our small towns. Kiwis priced out of our cities will continue to be attracted by the lifestyle and prices they offer, helped by ever improving technology making the likes of remote working only more viable.
One urban myth, that's never been proven or disproven, is that the Americans offered to build a highway all the way from Auckland to Wellington while they were stationed here during World War Two. As the story goes, the New Zealand Government of day turned the offer down, believing the country would never need such infrastructure.
Regardless if that exchange was true or not, New Zealand is finally getting a motorway and state highway network it well and truly needs. Infrastructure improvements are always welcomed news in the world of real estate. As to whether there'll be more tax demands, we'll all find out soon enough.