We’ve been at Christchurch for the past few days and we thought to do Property News Update a little differently this week. We’re going to have a general look at the New Zealand property market and how markets recover after a tragedy. Our special guest is Mike Pero.

Mike is somewhat of an institution over in New Zealand. He’s a pioneer with mortgages and has since branched out into real estate brokerage as well.

Shortly after announcing that they were going out to the market in 2010, Christchurch experienced a 6.3 magnitude earthquake. That was bad news for a start up real estate business and it was a tragedy for Christchurch. But there is a silver lining in every cloud. Today, they average on opening a new office somewhere in New Zealand every 47 days.

Mike believes there is a distinct sense of newness in Christchurch with 90% of the city being rebuilt.

You will also hear Mike’s take on the future of mortgage brokerages in light of the Banking enquiry in Australia.

“It's probably a little bit more controlled in New Zealand but I question if the government or the authorities get it?” Mike says. “How can you say I can’t reward for performance? The insurance, real estate, and financial services are all based around performance rewards.   

Mike believes it (the Banking Enquiry) has been a bit of a warning for New Zealand. Brokers, real estate, and insurance agents have it rough, after all.  It's a tough job. And you've got to reward well.   If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.