News articles

House prices to fall over 2009, won't rise until sales up for some time, ASB says

28 Feb 2009: ASB’s latest New Zealand Housing Confidence Survey for the three months to January showed 60% of respondents believed house prices would fall over 2009 (55% in the October survey), with 28% (29%) saying they expected prices to remain at current levels. read more >>

Ray of light pierces property gloom

28 Feb 2009: Should you be the owner of a major real estate franchise, passing your Saturday morning by reading the paper, having a cup of coffee and wondering just how your business will survive a slump that has already sliced 50 per cent off industry turnover, expect a phone call from Carey Smith. read more >>

Kiwibank profits up as home loan customers turn from rivals

27 Feb 2009: read more >>

The greatest hits of Family Property 2008

26 Feb 2009: The greatest family property cases of 2008 are conspicuous by their absence. Four appeals - R v R, X v X, Ward v Ward, and Kerridge v Kerridge are either waiting to be heard, have been adjourned part heard, or are awaiting a decision. read more >>

Experts' tip: Now's the time to buy a house

26 Feb 2009: If you are secure in your job and have enough money saved, now is the time to buy a house, say real estate experts. read more >>

Housing market looks better from a distance

26 Feb 2009: Relax - we're up in the long term. Prices might be down right now but New Zealand's housing stock has doubled in value in the past decade. read more >>

Shortage spells good times for landlords

26 Feb 2009: The rental market, particularly in Auckland, could be about to turn. read more >>

PGG Wrightson gets bank support after $32.8m loss

26 Feb 2009: PGG Wrightson half year results: Revenue: $737.7m, up 32pc Profit: -32.8m, down 195pc Dividend: 5 cents per share Big rural services company PGG Wrightson has today posted a loss of $32.8 million for the six months to December, down from the $34.6 million recorded in the same period last year. read more >>

Home Loan Rates

25 Feb 2009: Iwantahome.co.nz provides us with a useful summary of where Home Loan Rates may head. read more >>

3 per cent rise tipped for Waitakere

25 Feb 2009: Waitakere homeowners can expect a 3 per cent rates increase for 2009-10. read more >>

Opinion: Housing bubbles: Learning from Houston

25 Feb 2009: Mid last year, the satirical website, The Onion, pleaded for “just one more bubble” in “Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble To Invest In.” read more >>

Hundreds of residents fight Ellerslie racecourse rezoning

24 Feb 2009: A group of Ellerslie residents fear a successful rezoning submission in their suburb will pave the way for more development in green, open spaces. read more >>

Property for Industry takes $31.9m loss

24 Feb 2009: Listed industrial property investor Property for Industry reported a 5.3 per cent increase in full-year net operating profit for distribution to $15.7 million. read more >>

Here’s an interesting chart on overblown US house prices

24 Feb 2009: A hattip to Henry Blodget (never thought I’d say that) for pointing out this Robert J Shiller chart showing just how overblown US house prices became and the scale of the resulting fallout on the global economy now they’re collapsing. read more >>

Slash by 20 per cent to sell

23 Feb 2009: Real estate agents say the magic number is 20 per cent: motivated home owners who slash their asking price by that number can defy the property downturn and have offers flooding in. read more >>

Agent turns vendor with 'steal' bach deal

23 Feb 2009: Most of the baches at a Matakana tourist property north of Auckland have been bought by a real estate agent who has put them back on the market again with the chain she works for. read more >>

Big jump in unsold properties

23 Feb 2009: The number of unsold properties in Harcourts' northern region, which includes Auckland, has almost doubled. read more >>

Home dreams end in listing

23 Feb 2009: Looking at the mortgagee sales listings on TradeMe.co.nz and realestate.co.nz is a sobering process. read more >>

Why variable mortgage rates may fall below fixed rates within a month

22 Feb 2009: Announcements by Kiwibank, ASB, Westpac and BNZ in the last week indicate the retail mortgage rate curve is swivelling quickly towards being flat or positive for the first time in decades. This would be a major shift in the mortgage landscape in New Zealand where borrowers have become used to fixed rate mortgages always being cheaper than variable rate mortgages, unlike in Australia where most borrowers are on variable rates. read more >>

Crowds of viewers flock to open homes

22 Feb 2009: They call it the wisdom of crowds - and right now, estate agents are being trampled by the biggest open home crowds they have seen in years. read more >>

Property politics boil over

22 Feb 2009: A member of the Auckland Property Investors Association's board is calling for a vote of no confidence in the organisation's "autocratic" president, Sue Tierney, amid allegations it is on the brink of insolvency. read more >>

BNZ offers special 4.99% mortgage rate for 6 months

21 Feb 2009: BNZ announced it would offer 4.99% for a special six month mortgage rate as part of its “out of the box” package, which requires borrowers to take out two other products (such as credit cards or insurance) and have a 20% deposit. read more >>

Field of dreams in revamped quarry

21 Feb 2009: St Laurence Property & Finance, and two private joint venture partners, John Abel-Pattinson and Kevin Cox, owners of Greenstone Group, are selling 8ha of Mt Wellington land on which a $300 million retail, office, health and lifestyle development is being built. read more >>

Residential propertyRSS Email Print

21 Feb 2009: Land for a failed $2 billion property project near Queenstown has been put up for mortgagee sale. read more >>

Should there be limited liability for tenant property damage?

20 Feb 2009: The Government is about to overhaul laws governing the lives of more than one million tenants. read more >>

Farming Systems Uruguay may have to sell land to raise cash

20 Feb 2009: NZ Farming Systems Uruguay half year results: Revenue - $US8m up 6.8pc Loss -$US9.8m up 30pc New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay has posted an after-tax loss of US$8.917 million ($17.80m) for the six months to December 31. read more >>

NZ government made 21 shared equity loans in 7 months

20 Feb 2009: The new National Government has disclosed the shared equity home loan scheme set up under the Labour Government 7 months ago to help first home buyers has made just 21 loans. Housing Minister Phil Heatley told Parliament yesterday the government would complete the pilot but was unlikely to extend it. read more >>

Dairy farm sales dive 75% in January; all farm sales fall 63%

19 Feb 2009: Further signs that New Zealand’s dairy sector is in deep trouble emerged from the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand’s (REINZ) latest farm sales data, which showed only 12 dairy farms were sold in January, down 75% from a year ago. read more >>

National plans big rental law shake-up

19 Feb 2009: The Government is about to overhaul laws governing the lives of more than one million tenants. read more >>

Overdue mortgages rise 40pc says Westpac

19 Feb 2009: Overdue Westpac mortgages from New Zealand homeowners rose 40 per cent in the three months to December 31, figures from the bank showed yesterday. read more >>

Anxious house owners next in line for bailout

19 Feb 2009: MESA - In one neighbourhood in this Arizona city, every block has at least two for-sale signs out front. Many homes have broken porch lights and crispy brown lawns. One house has graffiti on the door. read more >>

Rocketing house prices bad news for locals

19 Feb 2009: ARBIL - As the price of housing collapses in the rest of the world, it is soaring in Baghdad. read more >>

Trust's helping hand makes families at home

19 Feb 2009: A charitable trust backed by The Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall says it could help beat the recession by building affordable houses - if it gets support from the Government or other funders. read more >>

Listed property 'a defensive buy'

18 Feb 2009: Listed property sector stocks are bargains and will remain good buying even if real estate vacancies increase and dividends are chopped back. read more >>

Home loan affordability shows record improvement

17 Feb 2009: Bernard Hickey details the latest interest.co.nz report on housing affordability, which shows a record improvement in January to the best levels in 5 years. He also looks at the outlook for house prices. read more >>

Godfather' jetting in to talk property

17 Feb 2009: The "Godfather" of the Chinese real estate industry is among a number of leading Chinese and Hong Kong business people attending a conference next month in Auckland which is one of a couple of initiatives underway to develop New Zealand's business ties with China. read more >>

Mortgagee listings up sharply to record in last week, our survey shows

17 Feb 2009: Mortgagee listings on trademe.co.nz and realestate.co.nz jumped 8.7% to a record 551 in the last week, our weekly survey of the two sites shows. read more >>

Builder calls for easier finance

16 Feb 2009: A construction industry leader is warning of huge fallout from the building downturn and calling for action on many fronts. read more >>

Recession a factor in David Reid Homes closures

16 Feb 2009: A string of businesses in the franchised David Reid Homes have gone to the wall lately, a move its chief has blamed on the construction downturn. read more >>

Builder calls for easier finance

16 Feb 2009: A construction industry leader is warning of huge fallout from the building downturn and calling for action on many fronts. read more >>

Builders heading for shake-up

16 Feb 2009: Builders could be licensed, and their materials accredited, under a proposed shake-up of the building industry and its codes of practice. read more >>

Record improvement in housing affordability in January; housing seen affordable again by the end of 2009

16 Feb 2009: Housing affordability improved a record amount to its best levels in 5 years in January because of further falls in house prices and a sharp reduction in mortgage interest costs, a monthly survey by interest.co.nz has found. read more >>

House affordability at a five-year high - Survey

15 Feb 2009: Housing affordability has reached a five year high, according to a survey. Housing affordability improved to its best level in five years in January because of a fall in house prices and sharp reductions in mortgage interest costs, a monthly survey by interest.co.nz found. read more >>

Houses most affordable since 2004 - survey

15 Feb 2009: Housing affordability has reached a five year high, according to a survey. read more >>

Base-jumping to $1b target

14 Feb 2009: Tainui Group Holdings' plan to become a $1 billion company has taken a giant leap forward with plans announced for a 23,000sq m, $100 million shopping mall at The Base retail centre in Te Rapa, Hamilton, scheduled for completion in 2010. read more >>

Exclusive hideaway attracts few bidders

14 Feb 2009: One of the biggest, most exclusive Bay of Islands properties near the waterfront failed to sell when it was auctioned in Auckland this week. read more >>

House sales at lowest since 1992, says REINZ

13 Feb 2009: The housing slump continues to deepen with the Real Estate Institute (REINZ) reporting that the number of residential property sales in January reached their lowest monthly level since 1992. read more >>

Housing NZ ready to go on Government Plan

12 Feb 2009: Housing New Zealand says it expects work to start within the next month on building 69 state houses and renovating 10,000 others. The general manager of assets, Kevin Mara, says the new state houses all have plans ready or almost ready and are on Housing NZ land so they don't need resource consents. read more >>

Mortgagee sales listings jump back near record levels

12 Feb 2009: Mortgagee listings on TradeMe and Realestate.co.nz jumped almost 25% to a near record of 507 in the last week as lenders and home owners started the new year with a vengence. read more >>

Opinion - Has the interest rate market already turned?

11 Feb 2009: Velocity and momentum are important variables in financial market pricing and direction. The break-neck speed of the reductions in market interest rates over recent months has been caught-up in its own momentum that a massive over-shoot to the downside is looking more likely by the day. read more >>

Recovery in house construction predicted to start next year

10 Feb 2009: House building in the $12 billion construction sector will recover soon, according to a report out yesterday from consultants BIS Shrapnel. read more >>

Opinion: Has the interest rate market already turned?

10 Feb 2009: Velocity and momentum are important variables in financial market pricing and direction. The break-neck speed of the reductions in market interest rates over recent months has been caught-up in its own momentum that a massive over-shoot to the downside is looking more likely by the day. read more >>

Online Mortgagee Property Listings Rise

10 Feb 2009: The number of people searching for mortgagee sales on a local real estate search website is growing, as the financial crisis puts more lenders under pressure. read more >>

Auckland house prices down 10.2% in January but will bounce back says Barfoots

9 Feb 2009: Auckland’s largest real estate agency group, Barfoot and Thompson, reported an average sale price of NZ$502,636 in January 2009, down from NZ$509,513 in December 2008 and down 10.2% from their peak in December 2007. Its level of sales rose to 515 from 461 in December, but were down 15% from January 2008. read more >>

House price slump accelerating

9 Feb 2009: House values slumped further in the year to January, says Quotable Value, opening up good buying opportunities in a climate of lower interest rates and keen sellers. read more >>

Desperate house vendors slash prices

8 Feb 2009: Forget the holiday weekend sales at The Warehouse and other discount stores - this month's big red half-price tags are on property. read more >>

Say hello to the good buys

8 Feb 2009: It might be a recession, but for those who can afford the deposit the housing market is the most affordable it has been in four years. read more >>

Fixed rate mortgages set to be good idea again

7 Feb 2009: Australian interest rates are tipped to hit a record-low by winter - and analysts say this makes fixed-rate home loans a good idea again. read more >>

Auckland house prices still moving down

5 Feb 2009: Housing prices in the Auckland market have continued their descent, in the latest figures out from realtor Barfoot & Thompson. read more >>

Mega-landlords back sweeping changes to RMA

5 Feb 2009: Commercial landlords with property worth more than $2.5 billion are delighted about Resource Management Act reform and even back moves to raise corporate fines from $200,000 to $600,000. read more >>

Aucklanders holding on to their houses

5 Feb 2009: Real estate agency Barfoot & Thompson, which says it sells one in three Auckland houses, has suffered its worst new-listing drop in a decade. read more >>

Govt to fast-track RMA consents for homeowners

4 Feb 2009: Getting approval to build or renovate your home is set to get faster and cutting down trees much easier under radical new measures proposed by the Government. read more >>

'Fed-up' owner selling city units

4 Feb 2009: Apartment specialist City Sales sold eight places at its final auction last year and today takes a group of inner-city units to market. read more >>

Emirates property prices 'fall off cliff' in meltdown

4 Feb 2009: Property prices in the United Arab Emirates "fell off a cliff" after banks reduced lending and speculators withdrew from the market because of the global economic crisis, Morgan Stanley said in a note to investors. read more >>

London's luxury house prices take a tumble

4 Feb 2009: London luxury home prices had the second-biggest decline on record in January as would-be buyers struggled to secure mortgages from banks hurt by the global financial crisis. read more >>

Kiwibank unmoved by break fee pressure

3 Feb 2009: Finance Minister Bill English's office has failed to move Kiwibank over its high fixed-term mortgage break fees. read more >>

Bank fees need testing

3 Feb 2009: Banks will continue to charge sky-high home loan break fees - often reaching tens of thousands - until there is a legal test case or intervention by Parliament, says the outgoing banking ombudsman, Liz Brown. read more >>

Home truths: Buying a home in New Zealand

2 Feb 2009: According to the 5th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey, buying a home in New Zealand is prohibitively expensive due largely to planners. The reality, however, is far more complex. read more >>

Stick to guns on fee, banks told

2 Feb 2009: A banking expert says banks should not be obligated to soften the impact on mortgage holders breaking costly fixed-term loans, despite calls for leniency by politicians. read more >>

Banks still growing farm lending fast, while business and housing lending flat to falling

2 Feb 2009: Reserve Bank figures show banks lent an extra NZ$395 million to farmers in the month of December despite signs of a sharp slowdown in the key dairy sector and complaints from farmers that interest rates were too high. read more >>

Hot home deals going begging

1 Feb 2009: Prospective homeowners will benefit from a battle of the banks to offer their best mortgage rates - spurred by last week's official cash rate cut to 3.5 per cent. read more >>

Break fee outrages vendor

1 Feb 2009: An Auckland apartment owner is hopping mad at having to pay an $11,500 break fee to get out of his $118,000, five-year mortgage with Kiwibank. read more >>

Martin Hawes: Take your focus off the mortgage

1 Feb 2009: Conventional financial wisdom has long held that you should use any spare money - either lump sum or ongoing income - to pay off the mortgage. There are a few exceptions (KiwiSaver and other subsidised super schemes in particular) but as an adviser I have, for a long time, told most people to get rid of the mortgage before starting to invest. read more >>