# Contemplating Moving to Christchurch



## tapan.shah21 (Dec 7, 2011)

Hi All,

We (wife, kid and myself) are contemplating moving to Christchurch.
We are currently living (renting) in Auckland and are thinking of making a move down south for various reasons.

Some of them are - 
Potential to afford buying a property (We can't enter the Auckland property market as of now)
Able to travel around the beautiful south island, easily and frequently

Both me and my wife are working in IT, more specifically are software testers.
My kid is around 15 months old

The questions we have (I am not even sure if this is the right forum to ask these questions)
1. Is it a good time to buy a property (for living primarily) in Christchurch
2. How is the property market, I heard rental market is really tight due to rebuilding of Chch
3. What are the good suburbs for a young family. We are looking into Addington, St.Albans, Merivale, Cashmere, Upper Riccarton, Papanui,Bryndwr,Fendalton,St martins
4. Any good daycare's for the little one around these areas that we should be looking at, which might have an impact on where we buy/rent etc

We would like to hear from anyone who has made such a move from Auckland to Christchurch (it basically swimming against the tide, in most cases) but we are quite excited about it.

We haven't been to christchurch but are planning a quick visit soon to attend a few open homes

Thanks
Tapan


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## Kimbella (Jul 4, 2013)

tapan.shah21 said:


> Hi All,
> 
> We (wife, kid and myself) are contemplating moving to Christchurch.
> We are currently living (renting) in Auckland and are thinking of making a move down south for various reasons.
> ...



I can help answer some questions, though not all.

Firstly, the last several months of home sales has been flat, and in some cases falling. I would honestly track sales for several months before I considered buying, for 2 reasons. 1) You don't want to buy right before the market slumps (or maybe it doesn't matter to you?) 2) You'll get more house for your money if you buy after the slump, not right before. 

But, you know, real estate prognosticating is an inexact science--maybe prices by Auckland standards are already a great value! Just do your due diligence in monitoring the market for trends, if you can.

The rental market is now opening up significantly, with recent stories about rent prices falling ... again, this is related to the loosening up of housing supply as repairs and new builds get completed. 

Addington is extremely busy, and not a neighborhood I would recommend; it has a majority of "sketchy" areas, versus nice ones. I live in Opawa/Huntsbury/St Martins at the bottom of the Cashmere Hills and love it; I would also consider moving my family to Merivale, Fendalton, and some areas of Papanui and Riccarton (lots of traffic in those areas, though). Also nice, but quite damaged in some areas is Avonside. St. Albans/Marehau is prone to (very bad) flooding in some areas, so again, do your due diligence -- that area in general is bit tired and worn out looking for me.

Can't help you with the daycare as mine is 14 y.o.

Good luck!


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## ClemClan (Oct 8, 2009)

Hi there,

I've lived in Christchurch for 8 years now. Same as anywhere there are pro's and con's and the earthquake has changed a lot but the city is rebuilding so there's hope. 

There are a lot of new houses being built in the suburbs so there is plenty of opportunity to buy 'new' if that's what you're looking for and imagine much cheaper than Auckland. There is also a lot choice with childcare and I would advise looking on the Internet to find more about where the nurseries and kindergartens are including costs etc. Places I would recommended looking round when you visit are: Fendalton, Merivale, Riccarton, Cashmere, Rolleston, Prebbleton, Tai Tapu, Lincoln and Halswell. 

Good luck!


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