I've been looking at the financial aspects of this issue for a while now, and have noticed an interesting phenomenon. It actually costs the same to both rent or own in New Zealand.
This requires New Zealand's current housing/financial climate. Most bank accounts yield in excess of 8% - Mine currently fetches 8.1%. Additionally, a nice, 2 bedroom home is either $300,000 NZD or ~$1200 NZD a month.
Taking out tax and inflation, running along the lowest NZ tax bracket(19.5% up to $38,000), $300,000 is expected to generate approximately $1200/month.
Disregarding things like being the owner of your domain, etc, which aren't really financially quantifiable, I can only see it making financial sense to rent in this climate, provided you have the money saved up. You could upsize, downsize, or relocate as necessary without facing tanking housing markets(Yes, ours has also shrunk slightly but not by much).
I'd like to get peoples comments on this, if there's anything I'm not seeing. What about the unquantifiables? The financial side of it removed, I believe that renting advantages younger people(being more mobile), whereas owning advantages older people(ER location, etc). Your thoughts?
This requires New Zealand's current housing/financial climate. Most bank accounts yield in excess of 8% - Mine currently fetches 8.1%. Additionally, a nice, 2 bedroom home is either $300,000 NZD or ~$1200 NZD a month.
Taking out tax and inflation, running along the lowest NZ tax bracket(19.5% up to $38,000), $300,000 is expected to generate approximately $1200/month.
Disregarding things like being the owner of your domain, etc, which aren't really financially quantifiable, I can only see it making financial sense to rent in this climate, provided you have the money saved up. You could upsize, downsize, or relocate as necessary without facing tanking housing markets(Yes, ours has also shrunk slightly but not by much).
I'd like to get peoples comments on this, if there's anything I'm not seeing. What about the unquantifiables? The financial side of it removed, I believe that renting advantages younger people(being more mobile), whereas owning advantages older people(ER location, etc). Your thoughts?