I hope you have enjoyed these random & topical snippets on Wellington Real estate: I have now moved to http://unconditional.co.nz/colinkelly News continues there!

May Sales Volumes Very Low

As low virtually as 2008 levels
About 540 houses sold in Wellington region in May. Boom was about 1100 a month 3 or 4 years ago.

And June felt like lower volumes of sales to me. Figures are not out yet. Felt like 450 I will guess.
I would like to blame the weather. It may however be the market is weakening.

The odd thing is that inventory of houses for sale is low and falling, and days to sell are down about 30% on a year ago. And median price down so little it dosnt really count ( though they are down 2 months in a row) Gives weight to winter blues rather than change in market.

In context , the lowest I have ever known was 1992 ( yes, I can remember that far back!) I recall a month of 380 sales and let me tell you, that was tough! I recall a newspaper headline " NZ to become Bananna Republic?" Well we didn't.

Wonderful Wellington House

Brooklyn
Decided the previous blogs house deserved a specific mention.
Either new or refitted. InAston Fitchett Drive, a street of otherwise generally bland 15 year old Fletcher homes. Well done

Wonderful Wellington View

Aston Fitchet Drive Brooklyn
On the way to the wind turbine and well into the clouds usually.

Great view, and from a nice looking house I had never noticed. The subdivision is 10 or 15 years old. Not sure if the house is newish or a refurbishment. Well done either way

Wonderful Use of REAL Money

Wonderful Wellington Property: Buy a commercial building. Put your apartment on top!
I believe all three of these buildings have a "beneficial owner" who uses, or has used the Penthouse themselves. I don't know for sure with one of them.
Now isn't that smart? No body corporate, generally no noise, and look at the locations! Interestingly the photos were taken virtually from one spot. Well done!

Wonderful Wellington: Wonderful Disdain For Global Warming .

Fascinating new house being built within 2 metes of (current) high water

This unfinished home is just as you enter Days bay, towards Eastbourne.
Between the road & the sea. A very cool place to be. Views through the heads & to the Kaikouras. Looks like its got great solar heat collection ideas.

I was told years ago the cottage bowled to build this was Katherine Mansfields' family weekender. ( 100 years ago the genteel took the ferry over to their cottages for the weekend at "the seaside" Hasn't changed a lot really!)
Full marks!

Wonderful Wellington: Wonderful Disregard for Convention

About the only handmade roof I've seen. And I've seen a lot of roofs.

It would be exaggerating to describe this Cuba street Petone roof & wall treatment as handsome.
But there are few that would so disdain convention as to do this. Nailing flat iron over both roof & upper wall areas, including flashings is both a mission and also thinking not limited by roofing convention.
Full marks to the Kiwi number 8 wire philosophy, and independent thinking!

Oil Spill Twitter site

Sorry.I so can not get the "hyperlink" function to work.
The address is

http://twitter.com/bpglobalpr

Oil not Real Estate.

The Best Use of Twitter so Far

Not real estate, but you have got to see the black humour in this site!


Its about the oil spill.You can see how twitter works here. 130 000 followers.

Example: Try our cap operation at home! Hold a funnel over a firehose, sell what you catch and proclaim victory! #bpwins

Mount Eden Prison 2X Allowed Height

Yes, 30 metres high, in an area you or I could go to 15 metres. Visible from motorway.
Two great quotes!

" The prison was passed in the "dearest" Helen Clark years. Council wanted 4 levels but Helen & Goff- who was Corrections Minister at the time- bulldozed it through . The documentation is clear. This communist style monstrosity is a fitting tribute to the Clark years'

And

" Its an eysore, a a monstrosity, a blight on the landscape. So it fits nicely into the architectural plan of Auckland."

When The Big One Comes

Soho Apartments is only one of 3 apartment buildings in Wellington, I am told, that comply with the latest code. The complex is actually 4 16 story towers, each of which can sway 600 mm without damaging each other. Good for a magnitude 8.5 shake...but I trust its not tested!

Soho Apartments Facebook Site

Soho Wellington is going to be handed over to the 325 new owners tomorrow, Monday 17th March 2010.It looks like I'm going to be at this 325 apartment landmark a lot now. Just been appointed Agent for Conrad, to sell their remaining units. And with the size of the development there will be a ton of things owners want to know & talk about. So here's the spot.

Until I sort this hyperlink you will have to cut and paste this I'm sorry.

http://tinyurl.com/24k9uat

Soho Apartments to Settle Soon...all 325 of Them

I was talking to the overall project manager for Holmes Group, the builders, yesterday. When I asked what he will do when Practical Completion is signed off, and the building handed over to Conrad, the developers, he paused, then said...."taking a long holiday" !
It is a mammoth development.
Must be a $100 million complex.
Await being allowed in to view with anticipation.
Practical Completion is hoped for today or tomorrow.

Wonderful Wellington Properties: Will Be Wonderfully Dramatic Apartments!

Tattoo Apartments, Abel Smith Street.
5 metres of floor to ceiling glass.
Note: declared interest. I have an agency to sell these!

Wonderful Wellington Properties: Wonderful Garden Art

Great the things a real estate agent sees in the back ways and byways...and there are plenty around Wellington. I will try and get a better photo.
Lovely art generously placed in a woody garden. Its in the quiet cul de sac of Joll st Karori. Well done.

A house I believe is Lloyd Morrisons' in Bolton street also has some great art visible from road.

Wonderful Wellington Properties. Wonderful Use of Road Reserve

These people have developed a very steep site into garden. Fruit trees, vegetables, semi permanent structures, between road and house. Full marks! Very hard to photo sorry, & address withheld.

Wairarapa Weekend won. 101 People Did Survey

Great Response Thanks!
What findings came out of the survey?
For you:
Few investors plan on getting out of investment property as a result of what has pretty much been announced for the budget. And if you did most would do up your house or put it in NZ banks. IE it will pretty much stay in NZ property one way or another.

For me:
I got a really high open rate (35% of the 664 emails I sent) and really high survey answering. 15%. Thank you.
Very low "unsubscribe" at 1% and only 2 negative comments, When you survey for "satisfaction" you do feel a bit vunerable!

The 2 most common comments, about 14 said you were happy as things are & about 6 of you want me to spell better!
You may imagine these 6 could all be teachers..but one I know is a chef who runs a great eating place in Tinakori road! Sorry, its not likely to get much better. Im proud I do it myself. ( I deliberately left that apostrophe out, Hemi!)

You can see the results in cool graph form here if interested Im sorry but I cant seem to insert a hyperlink You will have to cut & paste this.

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2v5r83cg8c6zc0d/results

Wow! Volume of Stock Falls in Wellington

Dominion Post confirm. Leaders copy falls in this weekends Saturday paper to 6 pages. February high was 16. Its not jus Leaders, same thing with all companies by the look of it.
We prefer less stock to the huge wave then. Less stock, firmer prices, keener buyers, leads to more listings. A happy cycle!

Last Chance for Weekend Wairarapa Prize

2 nights prize .Stay here
Hi my Wellington real estate survey. Should take 3 minuits.
Sorry, you have to cut & paste. This site will not hyper link the adress.

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2v5r83cg8c6zc0d/a011gg8s2sw33/questions

Closes Sunday

Prize Chance For Helping With Survey

When you do this survey you go in the draw for a prize you will love.
2 nights accomodation at the exquisite "Garden Cottage", A beautiful farm retreat at Tinui Station in the Wairarapa, 2 hours from Wellington.
Get in the car & get away.
Value $260. Winner notified this weekend. Arrange dates with Kelso & Jane, the owners, to suit you both. Valid till the end of August.
View the beautifully furnished getaway cottage here:

http://www.holidayhouses.co.nz/properties/9514.asp

,
I want to make what I send as useful and interesting as possible.
The web now gives me the ability to tailor what I send better.
And so I would like to know what about property in Wellington interests you enough to read what I write about.
I appreciate you taking 2 or 3 minuits to do this.
Note: The odds of winning the getaway are good!


Sorry, for some reason this site wont let me put 2 hyperlinks on one blog . So you will have to cut & paste this.

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2v5r83cg8c6zc0d/a011gg8s2sw33/questions

If anyone can help as to why I can insert one but not the other I would apreciate comment.