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What should the local property market make of all the economic volatility and growth downgrades overseas? To a basic non-economist it means confidence will falter once again, and debt will become harder to find, not helped by New Zealand’s change of credit rating. The effect of that is not just on the property supply (ie development/investment) side of the equation but also on the demand side. Businesses holding back on investment and hiring decisions are less likely to want to move to new premises. Every participant will need more equity to make things happen.

Many astute private investors have been active throughout the GFC and many will continue to be so, largely unaffected by such mundane matters as the availability of debt, but for the majority of regular businesses, from manufacturing to investment, it just prolongs the uncertainty and acts as a disincentive to action.

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