News articles

Business loans down, household loans up

29 Oct 2010: Credit growth turned negative last month as the business sector in particular continued to shed debt. read more >>

Do your homework before buying

26 Oct 2010: It's tough being a homebuyer in this market. On the one hand, everyone is telling you that you have the upper hand although it often doesn't feel that way. On the other hand, some people will be quick to tell you that you're a fool for buying because house prices are falling and the world as we know it is coming to an end. read more >>

A new era in affordable housing

22 Oct 2010: The Government has opened its first "simple house" today - its answer to streamlining the design and build process to allow first-home buyers affordable housing. read more >>

$572pw: Auckland's mortgages soar

21 Oct 2010: Homes are at their most affordable in six years - apart from in Auckland, where the average weekly mortgage is now more than $570 a week. read more >>

Banks ease lending rules as house sales slump

15 Oct 2010: An earthquake and a tax rise have combined to push house sale volumes to a 10-year low, as one major trading bank hints at zero-per cent deposits to lure new homebuyers. read more >>

House sales sink to 10-year low

15 Oct 2010: Property sales have sunk to their lowest September level in at least a decade, dragged down by a lack of activity in the Christchurch property market. read more >>

Start buying houses, says Kiwibank boss

14 Oct 2010: New Kiwibank chief executive Paul Brock is urging potential first home buyers not to be spooked and to go out and buy, so long as they can afford to. read more >>

Help for first-home buyers

11 Oct 2010: First home buyers and those on low incomes will be able to buy or build their own home, but defer payment on the land under a new Government scheme announced today. So far 30 parcels of Crown or Housing New Zealand land have been made available for the Gateway Housing Assistance Scheme. read more >>

Forced home sales continue as downturn bites

11 Oct 2010: Forced home sales climbed in July, compared with June, but were down on the same month last year. read more >>

Conveyancing drop offset by diversification

8 Oct 2010: A slump in sales of residential dwellings is having less impact than it may have had several years ago as many law firms have successfully reduced their exposure to conveyancing. National residential conveyancing fees are down an estimated $12 million on the same time last year. read more >>

Property values now 5pc below 2007

7 Oct 2010: Property values continue to lose ground across the country and are now more than 5 per cent below the market peak of 2007. read more >>

Auckland house prices, listings up

6 Oct 2010: Auckland house prices rebounded during September, after falling the month earlier, figures released by the region's largest real estate agency, Barfoot and Thompson show. read more >>

House prices rise, but sales slow

6 Oct 2010: A spring boost for the housing market was welcomed yesterday by Auckland's largest real estate agency. read more >>

Property market thawing

5 Oct 2010: The New Zealand property market appears to be thawing, with both buyers and sellers becoming more active. read more >>

Buyers warned to be wary of bargains

4 Oct 2010: Imagine buying a motel in a mortgagee sale only to find you didn't own the beds, televisions and other fittings. read more >>

The path of future mortgage rate movements is becoming clearer

2 Oct 2010: Now that the wholesale money markets seem convinced that the OCR will stay unchanged for at least the rest of 2010, and probably well into the first quarter of 2011, the prospect of any significant changes to mortgage rates this year is fading. read more >>

Home affordability improves

1 Oct 2010: Homes became more affordable in the three months to August 31, as interest rates, wages and house prices remained subdued, Massey University's latest Home Affordability Report shows. read more >>