Should you still buy a house in a post-Covid 19 world?

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what you should expect from the housing market, and how to adapt to it. Hosted by Frances Cook.<br /><br />Your house may be your castle, but it's also the biggest investment many of us will make, and it comes with the commitment of mortgage debt. <br /><br />So as we try to ride out the severe shockwaves from Covid-19, you won't be surprised to learn the current situation is also a gamechanger for housing. <br /><br />For one thing, unemployment is going up, and every time that happens house prices tend to go down.<br /><br />With tourism stopped, AirBnB is a nonstarter. Many former hosts are either switching to go into the long-term rental market, or opting out entirely and putting the property up for sale. <br /><br />Either of those would be a big force for change on their own, but now we have that and many other issues forcing change all at the same time.<br /><br />So let's rip the bandaid off and start with the bad news, although I promise there is some good news in this, so stick with us. <br /><br />For the latest Cooking the Books I talked to Herald property editor Anne Gibson.<br /><br />We discussed what's happening with housing in lockdown, what experts are forecasting for the future, and what this means for both first home buyers and current property owners. <br /><br />If you have a question about this podcast, or question you'd like answered in the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/" rel="noopener">https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/</a> Instagram here <a href="https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/" rel="noopener">https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/</a> and Twitter here <a href="https://twitter.com/FrancesCook" rel="noopener">https://twitter.com/FrancesCook</a>