News articles

Fantasy Island for Rich and Famous

29 Dec 2008: John Hawkesby loves it so much you'd have to drag him "kicking and screaming" back to the city. Mad Butcher Peter Leitch calls it "paradise" and Mainfreight founder Bruce Plested adores the laidback lifestyle. read more >>

Rental house of horrors

28 Dec 2008: Unwary landlords can find themselves caught up in a host of financial complications and be burned when they discover the cost of owning a rental property. read more >>

Eight neighbouring houses snapped up

24 Dec 2008: Eight houses valued at more than $12 million on neighbouring sites in the Auckland seaside suburb of St Heliers have been sold in one of the country's most unusual real estate deals. read more >>

BNZ gets wholesale guarantee from the Crown

24 Dec 2008: The Treasury has announced that it has approved the wholesale guarantee facility with the BNZ, who was the first to sign up to this arrangement. read more >>

Rogue estate agents get lifetime ban for fraud

23 Dec 2008: A group of former Auckland Barfoot & Thompson agents who engaged in mortgage fraud have been banned from the real estate business for life. read more >>

RBNZ reveals scale of home equity withdrawal; sees reversal

22 Dec 2008: Annual net housing equity withdrawals rose by over NZ$6 billion between 2001 and 2007, but the resulting spending spree is expected to reverse in coming years as house prices fall, a Reserve Bank of New Zealand economist said in a discussion paper. read more >>

NZ's first $2 million suburb

22 Dec 2008: Auckland's swanky Herne Bay has become the first suburb in New Zealand where the average house price has broken the $2 million barrier. read more >>

Martin Hawes: Where to for property values?

22 Dec 2008: Debate is raging about the future of property prices. It is a debate that is being held online and in the pages of newspapers (including this one) and other media. read more >>

Big deposits block home buyers

22 Dec 2008: Personal experience, through the unsuccessful auction of her classic Sandringham house, has made seller Rachel Jean wonder what the experts are talking about. read more >>

Bernard Hickey: Property pain only just begun

22 Dec 2008: It's tempting to think the worst is over for the housing market. Interest rates are falling fast. In March the two-year fixed mortgage rate was the most popular and hit a high of 9.64 per cent. read more >>

Housing loan approvals surge 30.6% in week after big OCR cut

19 Dec 2008: Housing loan approvals jumped 30.6% in the week to December 12 to 9,314, the highest weekly number since June 2007 when the housing boom was at its peak. The value of housing loans approved leapt 33.7% to NZ$1.032 billion, the highest level since the second to last week of December last year. read more >>

Home buyers most confident since 2003 in ASB survey

18 Dec 2008: Home buyers are the most optimistic they've been since 2003, partly because they expect to take advantage of prices falling further next year, the ASB housing confidence survey for the three months to October shows. read more >>

ARC eying rates relief for greenery

18 Dec 2008: Aucklanders could be offered rates sweeteners in return for preserving beauty spots and green space on their land. read more >>

Housing loan approvals surge after big OCR cut

18 Dec 2008: Alan Bollard's latest move has sent house buyers scurrying on to the market to finalise deals on properties. read more >>

Rate cuts lure back property investors

17 Dec 2008: Landlords are back in the market, prompted to hunt for properties because of cheap interest rates, according to a recent survey. read more >>

Rejig mortgages to save

17 Dec 2008: With interest rates falling rapidly, homeowners can save tens of thousands by restructuring or refinancing their mortgages - but they face a new headache in early repayment fees. read more >>

City apartments under the hammer

17 Dec 2008: Nine Auckland apartments go under the hammer at auction today. read more >>

20% Deposit - The end for the first time buyer?

16 Dec 2008: Should the First Time Buyer (FTB) wait because they don't have a 20% deposit? "Not at all!" says Jodi Cottle, a Mortgage Adviser & Managing Director of Sable Mortgages in Auckland. read more >>

Mortgage inquiries up as housing affordability improves

16 Dec 2008: Potential home buyers are rushing to ask about taking out mortgages, as a new report shows houses are more affordable than they have been in years. read more >>

Here's 10 reasons to buy property now, says long time investor

16 Dec 2008: Ashley Church, a veteran property investor with 30 years' experience, tells Herald on Sunday business editor Andrea Milner why now is a good time to buy: read more >>

Lower interest rates power record improvement in housing affordability

16 Dec 2008: A sharp reduction in mortgage rates drove a record improvement in housing affordability in November to its best level in 3 and a half years, the Wizard Home Loans Affordability report shows. read more >>

How to get your dream home loan

15 Dec 2008: Tough new loan rules requiring homebuyers to stump up 20 per cent of the cost of a house should not stop those who are serious about getting onto the property ladder. read more >>

Re: Purchase 9 Greenhill Crescent

15 Dec 2008: Economic times may be tough but the good news is that housing in New Zealand is becoming more affordable. read more >>

Median REINZ house price rises in November, but volumes drop

12 Dec 2008: The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand has reported the median house price rose to NZ$337,500 in November from NZ$335,000 in October, but that volumes sold fell to 4,279 from 4,469 in October. read more >>

Opinion: A real estate agent says prices are falling fast

12 Dec 2008: At present, in New Zealand, we have price falls and rises in house sales measured by, in particular, the Real Estate Institute, using median price and Quotable Value using average price, and the result communicated to the public. read more >>

Bidding at Dutch auction reaps reward for buyer

12 Dec 2008: In one of the most conspicuous signs of the property market's downturn, a grand St Mary's Bay mansion has gone for about half its market valuation. read more >>

November house prices steady but sales slump

11 Dec 2008: Median house prices were down 4.1 per cent in November from a year earlier, but slightly up on October prices, new Real Estate Institute (REINZ) figures show. read more >>

Fears of 35,000 jobs to go in NZ construction

10 Dec 2008: As new figures continue to emphasise the fall off in house building, there are fears 35,000 jobs could be lost in the construction sector. read more >>

Big fall-off in residential building

9 Dec 2008: The tighter economic climate this year has led, unsurprisingly, to a big drop in house building. read more >>

House prices fall but signs point to 'slight' recovery

8 Dec 2008: National property values have dipped again this month - but the slide may be bottoming out, according to figures from Quotable Value. read more >>

Tighter lending rules helping drive house prices down, says QV

8 Dec 2008: Average national property values fell 6.8% in the year ended November 2008, with values falling by larger margins in the main urban areas, figures from Quotable Value (QV) show. The fall in the year to November was the same as the October year-on-year fall. read more >>

Variable mortgage rates down 253 bps while OCR cut 325 bps

8 Dec 2008: Given the Reserve Bank has suggested banks are building up their profit margins by not passing on wholesale rate cuts to customers, it’s worth looking at what has happened to bank interest rates since the Reserve Bank started cutting the Official Cash Rate on July 24. read more >>

Prices of farms down by 10-15pc

8 Dec 2008: The dairy boom appears at an end. read more >>

Tourist spot NZ's most affluent place to live

5 Dec 2008: Queenstown and the Lakes District, the South Island's internationally renowned tourist area, has been rated as New Zealand's most affluent place to live. read more >>

Auckland property prices down in November - sales up slightly

5 Dec 2008: As most of the big banks move to cut their mortgage rates, more signs of the tough property market has emerged. read more >>

Renovations likely to boom in gloom

5 Dec 2008: A spark of interest in home renovations could be a sign of hope for those struggling to find work in the building industry. read more >>

Home Loan Rate - On their way down

5 Dec 2008: read more >>

Barfoot sales increase in November, average price falls

5 Dec 2008: Auckland real estate agents Barfoot and Thompson reported a slight increase in sales in November from October, as the average sale price dropped. However, buyers remained cautious through the month, using auctions as a means to see where the market was, Managing Director Peter Thompson said. read more >>

Mortgagee's authorisation and instruction to lodge new mortgages for registration

4 Dec 2008: The landowner-mortgagor's lawyer or conveyancer often certifies a new mortgage on behalf of the mortgagee as well as the mortgagor, or a discharge of an existing mortgage on behalf of the mortgagee. This is fine providing the certifying lawyer or conveyancer has been properly instructed by the mortgagee, and holds evidence of that. read more >>

Specialist buoyed by city centre sales

4 Dec 2008: An Auckland apartment specialist is seeing rising interest from owner-occupiers and has sold two places before auctions. read more >>

Pass this rate cut on, Bollard tells banks

4 Dec 2008: New Zealand's banks have been told to pass on the benefits of today's record 1.5 percentage point cut in official interest rates. read more >>

Downturn puts a stop to projects

3 Dec 2008: The economic downturn has caused "a substantial number" of large Auckland building projects to be put on hold. read more >>

RBA cuts by 100 bps to 4.25%

3 Dec 2008: The Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday cut its official cash rate by 100 basis points to 4.25% as global economic conditions continue to deteriorate and commodity prices continue to fall. read more >>

Easements by e-dealing

3 Dec 2008: Release 3.1 introduced functionality that allows easement instruments to be lodged electronically. Below is an example of a complex easement and a comparison of the old paper lodgement process to the new electronic method. read more >>

Mortgagee listings dip, but rental listings surging

2 Dec 2008: Mortgagee sales listings on trademe.co.nz and realestate.co.nz dipped back to a one month low of 469 or 0.42% of total listings in the week ending this morning, a weekly survey by interest.co.nz shows. read more >>

Review for change to old home demolition rules

2 Dec 2008: Heritage architects Salmond Reed will review plans by the Auckland City Council to lift demolition controls on thousands of old homes in many of the city's leafy suburbs. read more >>

Building consents dive in October to 1 per day in Auckland

1 Dec 2008: Residential building consents in October fell to their lowest levels since January 1992, figures from Statistics NZ show. There were 1,173 consents issued (including apartments) in October (September: 1,635), with consents in Auckland falling to 32 for the month, below half of October 2007 consents. (Updated to include comments from Registered Master Builders Federation chief executive Warwick Quinn) read more >>

NZ housing sector lending growth hits record low in October

1 Dec 2008: Total household lending by banks and non-banks in New Zealand rose just NZ$229 million to NZ$174.065 billion in October, a record low for any one month’s growth as new housing lending dried up and consumer lending contracted. read more >>

Subsidy aims to keep homes warm and dry

1 Dec 2008: More New Zealand homes will be warm and dry next winter because of an insulation funding programme. read more >>