It seems that all is not well within the recession recovery being touted by the governemt and their media lap dogs.

Terralink's latest data shows two-thirds of mortgagee sales in March were for properties owned by individuals, rather than companies.

It may be all well and good that the financial institutions feel like they are coming out of recession mode, but with unemployment still an issue, the majority of manufacturing now off shore, business confidence low and consumer spending being defined as "stagnant" things may be not quite as they seem.

For all of the media spin of late that we are now in a post recession recovery, I am sure that it doesnt feel like it to the countless people that are now facing losing their homes.

Terralink International's latest data shows 202 registered mortgagee sales in March 2010, with two thirds of the affected properties owned by individuals rather than companies.

The realestate.co.nz website currently has 246 listings that are tagged with mortgagee sale.

Managing Director Mike Donald says the sharp rise in forced sales among individual owners indicates it is now ordinary property owners who are losing their homes.

"At the height of the recession a year ago it was companies or individual property investors with multiple properties who couldn't meet their mortgage payments and were facing mortgagee sales. But a year on, despite New Zealand's economy showing signs of recovery, the effects of the recession still linger for Mum and Dad homeowners who are unable to make payments on their family homes," he says.

And Donald warns there may be more to come.

"Individual property owners now make up 66% of all forced sales, that's an increase of 32% on a year ago. I expect we will see more and more individual property owners and ordinary Kiwis losing their homes this year because there are many New Zealand families still hurting out there," he says.

Donald says a year ago second tier lenders such as the smaller finance companies were driving two thirds of mortgagee sales, but in March 2010 that had dropped to 59%. The major lending banks, which the majority of residential property owners have their mortgages with, are now driving an increasing number of forced sales.

Total mortgagee sales for 2009 reached a new record level with 3,024 registered sale transactions where the sale was a mortgagee sale. This annual total was more than 3 times the number of sales in 2008 and more than double the highest prior year (2002).

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What is most alarming is the impact that all of this recession talk is having on the people that matter most - you and me. It is all well and good that the media keeps plugging the tagline "post - recession" but this only really applies to the big finiancial institutions such as the banks that continue to have ridiculous growth and profit, whilst the collective governments of the world struggle their way out of a hole. Some don't even manage this. Greece would not be such a fun place to be at the moment.

And the New Zealand government's answer to this - a gst hike matched with some tax cuts. The overall analysis is that Joe & Jo Average would receive about $30 a week in tax savings. I sure hope that this covers all of the price rises that are bound to occur with a rise in gst.
I feel fortunate that our income is fluid, and I have the ability to work longer and harder if the need be. Joys to think of that as a viable option!