I had to laugh at this headline in New Zealand’s only national newspaper the other day. The story was about the frightening increase in the number of mortgagee sales.
According to the report there was a huge increase in the number of properties going to mortgagee sale and this was a sign that banks were worrying about the market.
The reality is measure was totally unscientific – searching two big property websites for the word mortgagee. Secondly in terms of the actual number of mortgagee sales, compared to number of houses on the market, the figure was quite small.
For a good response to the story it’s worth reading Alistair Helm’s response at Unconditional.
The story is even more stunning as it was bylined to one of the most experienced and awarded business journalists in the country. I do have to wonder whether the editors and sub-editors got hold of the copy, realised they didn’t have a lead for the paper and did a beat up on this.
What concerns me is that some of the mainstream media are having a field day going out and writing headline grabbing stories bagging the property market.
Readers will know I am more positive about the market, or pockets of the market, and try to put a balanced view out there.
On 19 February 2009 at 9:44 am Alistair Helm said:
I thought I would also highlight the extent of similar commentary by Bernard Hickey on Interest.co.nz in his video blog piece ""Stressed financiers put overdue borrowers to the sword" - again I have been able through the beauty of social media to set the record straight in terms of facts.
On 19 February 2009 at 6:04 pm james hilbron said:
re "frightening rise in mortgagee sales: have you not noticed that the Sunday Star Times has been conducting a campaign over the past 12 months to drive property price down with uninformed articles such as this because one of their snotty nosed 24 year old "journalist" complained bitterly that she was not able to afford to purchase in Herne Bay. She and her partner are typical of this present generation who are not prepared to start off property ownership in a less expensive suburb and then one day perhaps they can then afford to buy in the likes of Herne Bay once they have put in the hard yards
On 19 February 2009 at 9:03 pm Regan Hawkins said:
I stopped reading the Sunday Star Times years ago, they really have no respect for the facts and those whom their 'stories' may affect. Like most local newspapers though they have no problem drawing a good advertising revenue stream from the property related industries! Mind you the Sundar Star is very handy if one wishes to learn whats on special at the Warehouse or what time the rugby starts...
On 13 March 2009 at 11:26 am Blog: The Landlord says… » Blog Archive » Getting a handle on mortgagee sales said:
[...] little while ago I commented on the coverage of mortgagee sales in New Zealand. This week there was a useful bit of information [...]
On 13 March 2009 at 4:39 pm Paul Middleditch said:
I also had to laugh at the one news reporter the other night when he said that the situation was likely to worsen with 'massive'redundancies looming. Crikey what scare mongering journalism. Yes unemployment may increase in the short term but with so much uncertainty around to say that redundancies will be massive is just not fair to the average punter who (rightly or wrongly) believes what's reported in the innacurate media we call 6 oçlock news.
On 1 June 2009 at 11:25 am Nelson Real Estate » Nelson Mortgagee For Sale Update said:
[...] newspapers do owe some responsibility & associated credibility to their buying public, and in my eyes, our Nelson numbers plus the [...]
6 Comments
I had to laugh at this headline in New Zealand’s only national newspaper the other day. The story was about the frightening increase in the number of mortgagee sales.
