I am looking at purchasing a mid range 2 bdrm apartment in Wellington, partly to live in, but also for an investment when I am overseas.
There are quite a few on the market that appear to be a reasonable price. However many of them that I have looked at have huge bodycorp fees, Some between $600-$1000 per month. Which on top of rates, I could easily be looking up to 15k a year, and that doesn't include loan repayments, which to me sounds excessive.
I was told that it was due to insurance costs rocking after the christchurch earthquakes, and that some buildings haven't even been able to get insurance. Doing some research I found that apartments in heritage buildings tend to be the worst. So this makes me think that it may not be the greatest move in terms of an investment, and I would be better buying an actual house, perhaps in the surrounding suburbs.
Just wondering if anyone else has purchased an apartment recently in Wellington, or sold up.
It does make me wonder though what EQC is for, if people are having trouble with earthquake insurance. I thought that was supposed to be so everyone would be covered and the cost would be shared across all insurance payers. It does sound like EQC has now lost it's relevence.