From a purely residential property investment perspective, the numbers I feel simply don’t make for a compelling case for buying in Hamilton City (Waikato, NZ). Current interest rate settings with low rent yields along with the quality of housing stock make this proposition challenging.

If you need to invest in property, I feel better value could be found in other areas such as Pukekohe (satellite town to Auckland) and the larger urban centres in Canterbury and will be redirecting my search to those areas. Bear in mind that we are also in the midst of a nationwide rental glut.

The issues I’ve found with Hamilton (from purely a property investing perspective) is that large areas of Hamilton have been marked as potential flood zones. Much of the land appears to be built on relatively soft ground and the majority of houses have various issues including (but not limited to) the need to spend tens of thousands to get it up to Healthy Homes standards.

Other issues encountered during my search is that the rent appraisals given by different agencies across the city appear to be about 5-10% above the current market (for new tenancies).

With all that said, I wish to emphasize that this is from the raw perspective of investing. If you are planning to buy a place in Hamilton to move in to (as an owner occupier), then it will obviously be quite a different story and would strongly advise not letting the above dissuade people making the move to Hamilton.

Hamilton city from a living perspective I feel is generally good with the river, the world renown and highly regarded Hamilton gardens, commnunity gully restoration initiatives along with many pockets of Hamilton having exceptionally strong neighbourly community relations / vibe (unlike Auckland). Not to mention access to a full range of amenities as you would expect to find in cities.

Hamilton City Council have also been exceptionally responsive to any enquiries I’ve had. Particulary around obtaining property information files and other related documentation.

Hamilton Agents on my back about putting in offers, any offers.

The situation I had predicted and feared 15 years ago has eventuated.

I see their share price is now over 600 USD and is now confessingly the largest holding in my US portfolio. Like the parking enforcement company, admittedly bought shares to try and counteract (take the edge off) my moral indignation towards these companies. We collectively keep perhaps unwittingly rewarding bad behaviour as a species (and I include myself in a lot of this) and stuff like this just reinforces that entities engaging in questionable behaviour are rewarded.

Many smaller businesses are also doing away with a website and simply using Facebook as their main and perhaps only “web presence”. Facebook have also been increasingly aggressive and obnoxious in throwing up a login wall while browsing public business pages. This was the situation a decade and a half ago I had feared and was labelled as a scaremonger for even suggesting this would eventuate.

I think I’m done folks, us web traditionalists and Open web advocates have lost the fight on this one. Have been curbing my use of the Internet outside of what is required of my job.