New Zealand might now be emerging from the strict bubble of level four lockdown, but life is not set to be the same. The move into level three mean there are hints of a return to normal, but it’s a “new normal”, we are told. The threat of Covid-19 has not disappeared and the economic fallout from the crisis is something we’ll be dealing with for a long time.

That fallout will affect most of us in some way, just as the lockdown did. Here at NZ Property Investor magazine, the lockdown didn’t stop us publishing. But it did force some changes. The April issue of the magazine was 95% completed, with just the cover to go, when the Government closed our printer down. That meant we had no option but to produce and distribute the April magazine solely in a digital format.

While some hard copy subscribers were not happy with that, we felt it was important to honour the work done by our contributors and the commitments made to our advertisers to the best of our ability.

Many magazines have done the same, while others have not been able to and have been tipped over the edge by the situation. We feel fortunate that we are in a position to keep publishing the magazine during these uncertain times.

But that lack of certainty does mean that this issue, like the April issue, will be produced in digital format only. That’s because when we were booking in production deadlines, the end date for level four was not known and we were not willing to risk booking a print date that might not happen.

None the less, this issue is packed full of relevant, timely and interesting content. Inevitably, many of the articles have a Covid-19 focus. But feedback from our readers indicates that this is what is wanted right now. It is the role of media to shine a light on the issues of the day, and to provide insight and context. We hope the articles featured in this issue help to do that.

Going forward, as we (hopefully) continue to move down through the alert levels, many landlords continue to have concerns. Many relate to the economic impact of Covid-19 on tenants and their rents, others revolve around what might happen with the market.

This prompted us to run our own survey of investors to get their views on where they saw the market going and how they had responded to the lockdown. It produced some very interesting results (which you can read about in the magazine), but it did suggest that most landlords are committed to playing the long game and aim to ride out this storm.

So, landlords – please read and enjoy the offerings in this issue. We hope the articles are useful and enlightening. And stay safe.