Property prices

PHOTO: ROSA WOODS/STUFF Open homes have been banned during the Alert Level 4 lockdown.

New Zealand’s coronavirus lockdown has resulted in more Kiwis looking at property listings, figures show.

But as with most things conronavirus-related, just how the property market reacts to an imminent recession is surrounded in uncertainty.

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During the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (GFC), the last time we experienced a major recession, property prices in New Zealand fell about 8 per cent.

Squirrel Mortgage Brokers principal John Bolton said the impact of Covid-19 was very different to previous periods of economic turmoil.

“It’s not like the GFC, which was a financial crisis with poor lending standards – our banks this time around are in very good shape,” Bolton said.

Property prices would be determined by what happened to the economy, and in particular, what happened to business insolvencies and employment, he said.

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