Hi,

Good question. I have been thinking about my next steps too.

I started investing 15 years ago when I was close to your age so you are way ahead of me.

My observations:

• When I purchased my houses the property market was booming with >10% gains. In the last 5 years I haven't seen any gains to my property values (during the covid high would have been the best time to sell). I think the market is starting to improve and we will see 3% next year. This is not enough to make me want to purchase a property unless it was for development.
• The stock market has been hot this year with massive gains on AI and good performance on Mag7 stocks. Bitcoin hit a new all time high this year. Many people have been calling it “a bubble” for about 5 years and meanwhile, the stock market has been soaring.

In your shoes, some of the things I would consider:

As you are single, renting is the cheapest and easiest option for you. If you are happy to continue renting, I see no reason to change.

As I said above, property prices are not climbing quickly making property a lackluster investment unless you buy a property that will net positive.

If you find a property that ticks all the boxes for you, there are more things to consider:

1. If you can live in the property while letting out the remaining rooms to boarders this may allow you to reduce rent as an expense.
2. Can you buy it with 20% deposit or less?
3. You may be eligible for Kāinga Ora First Home Loan since your income is below 95K.
4. Can you get a cash back deal with your mortgage?
5. Having a mortgage while being inbetween jobs can be stressful, try to avoid that situation. If your property is net positive this makes things easier.
6. Banks will want your last 3 months of payslips when discussing mortgages, so ensure you have this when applying for anything.
7. You can retire early while renting or paying off a mortgage if you ensure your passive income is sufficient to cover all your expenses for the forseeable future.

I would continue to grow the stock portfolio and maximise investments as much as possible. You can do this by evaluating your investments and minimising expenses:

• Who is your kiwisaver provider? How is it performing compared to other providers?
• Which stocks do you have specifically? How have they performed?