Jump to content

kingkarl

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Content Count

    1337

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    4

Posts posted by kingkarl

  1. Posted · Report reply

    Haha, I get to drive on all of these roads for work as we have customers everywhere.

    Except.. in a Ssangyong Actyon Sport......

    Saw a whole bunch of the "race series" 'yongs heading south yesterday afternoon.

    Why anyone would race them I have no idea. 2.3l petrol ute with an open diff - No thanks

  5. Posted · Report reply

    Forums are like a long term relationship, after a while its just a rehashing of the same old conversations and routines, it can end up like feeling like you are flogging a dead horse… and when kids come along, then the romance is well and truly dead.

    You can’t stay together for the family or blind loyalty, it stifles potential and creativity, and it can make you a very dull, empty and unhappy person. You need passion.

    Sometimes it’s best to cut your losses and get out and sample the other low hanging fruit, change is good and exciting.

    Read into that what you will.

    sorry about the divorce

    • Like 3

  7. Posted · Report reply

    all this makes Wellington seem quite reasonably priced! And think - we have good functioning public transport for most suburbs. Yes, a smaller labour market. However, one can still buy a decent house in a second tier suburb close to town for $600-700k. And if the salary surveys are to be believed, better paid than Auckland.

    Shhhhhh don't tell everyone!

    sorry I couldn't hear you over the wind and rain

    • Like 6

  8. Posted · Report reply

    Have you bedded the brakes in?

    Eg Run it up to 80kmh quickly, slam on the anchors back to 20kmh, back up to 80kmh. Do this 4-6 times repeatedly, or until it starts to fade. This puts a nice layer of brake material on the disk, improving feel, performance and longevity.

    • Like 1

  15. Posted · Report reply

    my flatmate bought the exact same spec car (but silver/black interior) on the weekend for $2800 - it was listed on TM for months for as much as 10k. Seller finally dropped his price to $3k and only then did he get any interest.

    His has done a hair over 200k but is in perfect condition.

    in other news crude is down 33% since June

  16. Posted · Report reply

    That'd be a fool's errand. NZ has a history (roghtly or wrongly) of high interest rates, and I anticipate that while the (frankly ludicrous) requirement for a 20% deposit will be waived, interest rates will rise. They have to - National has ~$60bn (or whatever) of debt to repay.

    Huh? NZ's public sector debt to GDP is one of the lowest in the developed world. If our govt debt was high (it isn't), that would be an incentive to LOWER rates. You are also overlooking the independence of the RBNZ & govt but that's another story.

    Interest rates rises are mostly employed to curb inflation - in the developed world there is no inflation. Europe is actually steering down the barrel at deflation. The ECB has negative deposit rates - so charge banks to hold cash overnight. Such is the magnitude of the problem. No inflation = no interest rate rises.

    The RBNZ has commented the kiwi dollar is overvalued. They put their money where their mouth is by selling half a billion NZD in the last month in order to get it lower - something they haven't done for many years. The RBNZ's commitment to lower NZD is further proof more rate rises are extremely unlikely.

    I think Dave may have an excellent point. Immigration isn't to NZ - it is to Auckland. And that spells disaster. Admittedly much of the business centre is in Auckland, but much of the immigration we are seeing is either unrelated to that business, or is seeing a net outflow of money from NZ as a result of work performed here. (I could stereotype about some of the immigration taking place, but let's not go there.)

    Yes, agree.

    But that's not property prices. :)

    Sort the railway. A commuter service between Auckland and Wellington would open up many areas currently accessible only by car. Business would move to those areas, and so would people, easing the housing problems in densely populated regions.

    Because governments have such a successful history of intervening in the railways in this country... As a taxpayer I'd rather a solid kick in the nuts than go through that exercise again.

    There are some signs of business relocating out of the CBD. Albany is an example. Tauranga and Hamilton will probably pick up a lot of the Auckland spillover in time. The cost of living (and arguably the lifestyle) in those cities is highly favorable so it makes sense for head offices to go there. Staff will take a pay cut because their mortgage repayments are halved. Therefore lower costs for the company - everybody wins.

    Instead we have policy that will see the cramming of more and more building into smaller and smaller (and more and more expensive) areas. There's no doubt purchasing property in those areas as little as 10 years ago is now proving to be a most astute (if accidental) financial investment.

    What's the alternative? More sprawl, more traffic, more stretched infrastructure?

  17. Posted · Report reply

    Average income in NZ is around $1000 per week. That's average, not median. The median is lower at around $900 per week, and is a more relevant figure.

    The median house price in NZ is around $420000, or pretty close to 9x the median income.

    Since 1995, wages have increased by around 75%. House prices have increased by around 175%.

    House prices are running away. It happened in the UK, and buyers there had stamp duty and capital gains to contend with. There's no such disincentives here.

    OK - so what I've said are huge generalisations, but it paints a particularly bleak picture. Couple this with the requirement to have 20% of the purchase price of a property before the bank will give you a mortgage, and it's a wonder anyone can buy a house. Investors, of course, love it, so prices continue to rise.

    You're missing the most important variable in that equation... interest rates

    In 1995 mortgage rates were 10%+. Today its just over 6%.

    The mortgage you can service on the average income has therefore increased about 67%.

    • Like 1

  20. Posted · Report reply

    I wonder how much the laws will end up costing the country. Can imagine the investigations would be too costly much of the time.

    I don't think the number of Chinese students driving exotics wont decrease at all.

    You should have seen the Mclaren MP-1 crash at Hampton a few months back. 20 year old kid turned up. Gave it to his clueless mate. Nearly goes off Lap 1 Turn 1. Does go off Lap 2 Turn one. Tried braking after the 100m board doing 200+ in a road car.... Wrote it off.

    ouch re:Mclaren

    Yeah I'm not sure about you but I deal with AML bullshit every day - does my head in. It is already costing a lot of business a looooot of money. Lawyers will inherit the earth.

  21. Posted · Edited by Stonebread · Report reply

    Black Money from China. Is money they can't use in China. So it is smuggled out. Spent on luxury items. They are then sold 6 months down the line and returned to the families bank accounts. Well there is much more to the process. Best look it up.

    I wonder how much more difficult this has become with the new AML laws (if at all)

×
×
  • Create New...