The results of the Resimac New Zealand Property Investor Survey are in. This year, for the first time, we partnered with the New Zealand Property Investors’ Federation in order to reach as many investors as we could. It’s been a very worthwhile exercise — the results are fascinating and detailed in depth in our lead story this month.

What really stood out for us is that investors are committed to sticking it out. Rather than seeing a mass exodus after endless regulatory changes, the opposite seems to be true — 47% of respondents shared they had never sold a property, and 24% said that they hadn’t sold in the past two years.

Most people who responded were small-time investors, with 68% owning five properties or less. And interestingly, 50% of respondents either owned, or would be looking at purchasing, a commercial property. It’s always interesting to get an overview of investor sentiment, especially when it comes to predictions around house prices. Last year, nearly 70% of respondents predicted house price rises. This year, the figure has dropped to 35%, with 50% predicting they would stay the same, and 13% predicting a fall.

For long-term investors market fluctuations, such as those predicted, are all expected. There are likely to be headwinds impacting house price growth, such as higher mortgage interest rates, tighter lending conditions and the ongoing regulation changes, but the big picture is still positive for investors, especially those who chose to buy-and-hold. Your investment property will have experienced significant capital gain in the past two years, and this gain is unlikely to be eroded (barring a major international recession that leads to significant job losses at home).

Our second lead this issue explores the maturation of the property management sphere, which has been much needed. David Faulkner, property management general manager of Property Brokers, is a long-term advocate for a regulated industry, and he shares the changes that are set to lie ahead in 2022.

Our profile this month is a couple who started out as investors, then realised the need for relocatable homes after adding a dwelling to their own existing investment property. It’s an interesting story, and we hope you can get some ideas around how to maximise the potential of your own properties through Victoria and Chris Travis’ inspiring tale.

It’s going to be an interesting year. As we go to print, Omicron has entered the community and we are back under Red settings, holding our breath to see what is in store. Hopefully, we can be as effective at minimising the impact of this new variant as we have been in keeping the other variants at bay, but only time will tell.