New Zealand’s resurgent property market is evident in the latest Reserve Bank statistics, showing the number and value of home loans issued across the country. 06-08-2012 more >>
The days of property purchasers enlisting the help of a knowledgeable relative to do a "building inspection" on a house they are thinking about buying are numbered. 06-08-2012 more >>
Auckland apartments are finding favour with buyers drawn to affordability and high returns, real estate agency Bayleys says. It says activity in the market is up significantly on the beginning of last year. 06-08-2012 more >>
High rates of property sales in Auckland in July reduced the number of properties for sale at the end of the month to their lowest level in seven years. 03-08-2012 more >>
No houses are being built for the lowest-income quarter of New Zealand’s population, Finance Minister Bill English told media last week. His comments are backed up by the Productivity Commission report on housing affordability which noted that the country’s new homes over the past 50 years had tended to be large, expensive houses or top-end apartments. 03-08-2012 more >>
Tenants are flocking to a new bond guarantee scheme that allows them to cut the cost of paying a rental property bond, says CBL Insurance’s Richard Blake. 02-08-2012 more >>
It’s now much harder for single people on high incomes and middle-income couples to buy homes than it was ten years ago. A study by the Productivity Commission and Treasury shows that by the end of the last property boom, only 31% of those who did not own a house could afford to, compared to 81% in 2004. 02-08-2012 more >>
Presidents Report: The opposition Labour Party have recently accused landlords of ripping off tenants who receive the accommodation supplement (AS). 01-08-2012 more >>
Westpac says that if the Official Cash Rate doesn’t rise by July 2013, the country’s housing market could go from warm to “positively frothyâ€. 01-08-2012 more >>
Million-dollar homes are as popular with Auckland buyers this year as they were in 2007, according to Barfoot and Thompson. The agency sold 424 Auckland residential properties for more than $1 million in the first six months of this year, matching the number sold in the same period of 2001. 01-08-2012 more >>
Housing is no longer the investment of choice for investors surveyed by ASB - except in Auckland. The latest ASB Investor Confidence Survey shows investors are becoming more cautious because of the looming crisis in Europe. 31-07-2012 more >>
Housing Minister Phil Heatley has confirmed the Government is considering changes to the accommodation supplement and has slammed the cost of new subdivisions. 30-07-2012 more >>
ACT Leader John Banks supports Finance Minister Bill English’s claim that house prices are “ridiculously high†and that affordability issues are “turning off†young New Zealanders. 30-07-2012 more >>
More land won’t mean cheaper housing, the chairman of the Environmental Defence Society says. Gary Taylor told the NZ Herald today that Fletcher Building chief executive Jonathan Ling was thinking only of his firm’s own pockets when he said expanding Auckland’s urban limits to create more housing would lower prices. 30-07-2012 more >>
Canterbury’s recovery is making a big difference to the number of building consents recorded nationwide. Statistics New Zealand said today that the total value of residential building consents rose 27% to $456 million for June 2012. The value trend has increased 30% since April 2011. 30-07-2012 more >>
A radio advertisement for Property Brokers did not meet the standards of financial advertising, the Advertising Standards Authority says. 27-07-2012 more >>
Lawyers say they are seeing “off-the-plans†property purchases again – after years of none. But the trend comes with a warning. Denise Marsden, of Alexander Dorrington, said the change was noticeable. 27-07-2012 more >>
This morning's announcement that the OCR will remain at 2.5% has prompted minimal reaction. Westpac said the Reserve Bank decision to leave the Official Cash Rate at 2.5% hadn’t affected its prediction that the first increase would be in July 2012. 26-07-2012 more >>
In its latest Property Pulse report, website chief executive Alistair Helm said the inventory of unsold homes was at a four-year low, below 30 weeks. 25-07-2012 more >>
Auckland Council has announced moves to address the city’s housing supply and property affordability problems. The city needs about 10,000 new homes a year but is building only 2500. 25-07-2012 more >>
ASB has agreed to a new 12-year lease term in its Dominion Rd, Auckland national support centre premises, which are being sold through a proportionate ownership scheme. 24-07-2012 more >>
Benign inflation data, the still strong currency and the fragile global economy are likely to offset any concerns Reserve Bank Alan Bollard might have about the stronger than expected domestic growth data for the March quarter and rising house prices. 23-07-2012 more >>
New Zealand’s housing shortage has become a crisis but a number of factors are working against massive price increases, says BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander. 20-07-2012 more >>
