Oops, we bought a house ...

They weren’t intending to buy – but saw a property and did.

New research for Property Press finds 14% of adults say this has happened to them.

It happened to 16 out of every 100 who bought a property to live in during the past year.

This rose to 27% of those who bought a rental or investment dwelling.

Those making unplanned buys were far more likely to be living in Christchurch (19%), Dunedin (18%) or Wellington City (16%) than in Auckland (6%) .  If they were Aucklanders, they were more likely to be living in the Auckland Isthmus or Waitakere.

Unplanned purchases peaked among those 45-54 years (21%) and 35-44 years (18%).

Selling at the same time as making an unplanned house purchase:

44% of those who had made an unplanned house purchase (51% in Auckland) during the past three years had also sold a property at the same time – mostly through a real estate agency. 56% bought the property without selling another one.

Results are from a nationwide Horizon Research Property Media Survey, February 2017. Sample 2,066 aged 18+ representing the New Zealand adult population at the most recent census. Maximum margin of error +/- 2.2%