Jump in when others bail

PHOTO: 123RF – The right time to buy should be dictated by your circumstances.

When is the best time to buy a property? Perhaps when everyone tells you that you shouldn’t.

New data from property research firm Valocity shows that those who bought property during the depths of the global financial crisis have since done well out of the deals. Property commentators say that should prove to be true of most downturns in the market.

The global financial crisis started in 2007 with the collapse of the subprime mortgage market in the United States. Its effects were felt in New Zealand the following year as the downturn spread around the world.

Houses prices floundered – Real Estate Institute data shows that in the year to February 2007, Auckland prices fell 1.1 per cent, after rising 12.7 per cent the previous year. They did not move in the year to February 2008.