Why invest in Christchurch?
For those who question why should I invest in residential property in Christchurch in the light of continuing aftershocks and increasing cost of ownership.
Christchurch is now the site of the largest civil engineering project ever to be undertaken in the history of New Zealand by a factor of between 10 and 20 times the size of any previous project.
A high percentage of this project is insurance funded with further significant contribution from Government, Local Authorities and Private Sector.
Effectively Christchurch is recession proofed for many years to come.
The media currently is expressing the frustrations of a number of Cantabrians; this is the result of continuing aftershocks which slows the rebuild time table amplified by insurance issues.
As with any major event in one’s life there is a psychological cycle in response to these events, and with some immediate broad decisions that were required, there were some winners and losers.
A natural human reaction to some of these situations is despair and frustration and blame. Towards the later part of 2012 the rebuild will gain momentum with attitudes and spirits lifting as progress becomes tangible.
The aftershocks are following predictions of lessening occurrence and intensity, as some of these aftershocks are very shallow and close to the city their impact is still noticeable.
The majority of Christchurch’s residential properties on Land Zoned Green in the Grey and Yellow categories, are of light timber frame construction and have performed extremely well in over 10,000 earthquakes with mainly only cosmetic damage occurring.
The demand for residential rental property is giving increasing returns both in property values and rents, taking into account the above factors this should be an on-going trend.
Tony McPherson
Director – McPherson Property Management