But there are lots of opportunities in regional NZ. If you live in a smaller centre, there may be benefits to owning a property locally that you can check on as you need to.
The downside to cashflow investing is that -- usually -- you get fewer capital gains. Cheaper places generally don't increase in value as fast or as much as the more expensive areas. Is that a tradeoff you're willing to make?
If you want to make some money quickly, your best bet is probably to buy a property where you can add value. That could be somewhere you can renovate or subdivide. This comes with a big warning, though -- the IRD will want to tax you when you a sell a property if you bought it with the intention of sale. And then sometimes, after the tax, effort and finance the return might not be as great as you'd expected, you'll need to do your research and sums on how much the property's able to realise.
Most property investors in New Zealand are of the buy-and-hold persuasion. They add to their portfolios over a number of years. Over time, rental increases improve the rental return and cashflow from those investments and price increases boost the equity in their properties. Sometimes they use that equity to buy more houses.
It's easy to get caught up in the hype of a market that's doing well but the worst investment decisions are made when people buy at the peak of the market and sell when it drops. If you're thinking about investing, make sure you do your homework and talk to some impartial advisers.
Jeremy Tauri is an associate at Plus Chartered Accountants.