Lawyers nail conveyancers - yet again

Lawyers will keep their virtual monopoly on conveyancing, while a tiny industry competing for a chunk of this work awaits the parliamentary ratification of long-promised reforms.
30-12-1899 more >>

House price inflation accelerates yet again

House price inflation accelerated yet again in July, according to the latest Quotable Value figures. Average growth in house prices nationally was up 14.3% in July from July last year to $310,420. That compares with the 14.2% annual increase in June, the 13.5% rise in May, 12.5% rise in April and 12.1% rise in March when it had appeared that house price inflation was abating.
30-12-1899 more >>

Estate agents keep tabs on tenants

Almost 400,000 New Zealanders could find their names on a new national rental database of good and bad tenants.
30-12-1899 more >>

Home loan rates start rising

Many home buyers are believing that home loan interest rates will start decreasing when the opposite is happening.
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Competitive pressure amongst banks eases

The difficulty of picking where interest rates are headed has been thrown into sharp relief for people refixing shorter term finance at the moment or in the near future.
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Issue Red Herring To Increase Taxes

The New Zealand Property Institute today said that comments by commentators that taxation treatment was the big deciding factor regarding New Zealanders propensity to invest in property were wrong.
30-12-1899 more >>

Weekly Home Loan report

Three factors are in play for home loan borrowers at the moment – falling long term rates, an impending official cash rate review and competition.
30-12-1899 more >>

Government spin won’t hide tenancy cuts

National's Building spokesman, Nick Smith, says Labour cannot hide its cuts to provincial tenancy services with spin and half-truths.
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Review of the Accommodation Supplement

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) has initiated a review of the Accommodation Supplement.
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AMP to re-enter the mortgage market

AMP has decided to re-enter the home loan market and provide AMP-branded lending options through a partnership with Kiwibank.
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Kiwi will fall sharply by year's end says bank

James Weir reported today in the Dominion Post that the Kiwi dollar traded above US77cents during the weekend but the global backdrop for the dollar is "as good as it gets" and Deutsche Bank is expecting the dollar to fall sharply to US68c by the end of the year.
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Mortgage rate war fuels housing confidence

ASB Bank’s latest survey of housing confidence is likely to send shivers up spines at the Reserve Bank.
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Long term home loan rates continue to fall

The past week has been a quiet one on the home loan front with the trend of the past couple of weeks, falling longer-term rates, continuing.
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First home subsidies rejected

Property developer Hugh Pavletich has taken Real Estate Institute national president Howard Morley to task for calling on Labour and National to 'incentivise' first home ownership with subsidies.
30-12-1899 more >>

Broaden terms of Housing NZ boarder review

National Party Housing spokesman Phil Heatley is urging the Minister to broaden the terms of a review into the circumstances and number of state house tenants with paying boarders.
30-12-1899 more >>

New finance option for businesses

Nationwide Finance has a new finance package designed to help businesses purchase their own premises.
30-12-1899 more >>

Kiwibank chases refinance busin

Kiwibank has cut its fixed rates loans in a two-week marketing campaign aimed at attracting borrowers refinancing from loans fixed two or three years ago.
30-12-1899 more >>

Further cuts to fixed rates

There have been further cuts to fixed rates over terms of two to five years from some finance companies and non bank lenders over the past week but some one-year rates have increased. The major banks, however, are maintaining identical rates over all terms.
30-12-1899 more >>

1000 More State Homes delivered

The government has delivered on its goal of providing 1,000 more state homes in the past year, Housing Minister Steve Maharey announced today.
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Fixed home loan rates start the year falling

Borrowers begin the year with some hope that interest rates have reached their peak as weak growth data indicated chances are the Reserve Bank will be in a holding pattern until later this year, when some easing may eventuate.
30-12-1899 more >>

Rates quiet, some upward pressure applied

The home loan rate market has gone very quiet in the past week with very few changes to report.
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Kiwibank's In Reach pilot likely to fall short of target

The government’s pilot plan to assist first-home buyers into their own homes has so far helped 850 families buy houses with mortgages totalling nearly $100 million, according to Kiwibank, which administers the scheme.
30-12-1899 more >>

Building Act killing off Kiwi home handyman

The Labour Government’s Building Act is killing off the “do- it-yourself” home handyman and imposing unnecessary building regulations and costs, Deputy Leader and housing spokesman Dr Muriel Newman said today.
30-12-1899 more >>

State tenants do $6m damage

State housing tenants caused a record $6 million damage last year - up 50 per cent in the past five years. Nearly $100,000 was spent decontaminating houses that had been used as methaphetamine labs.
30-12-1899 more >>

Battle for borrowers business continues

Many lenders cut fixed rates over the last week as the battle for borrowers’ favour continues.
30-12-1899 more >>