Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.
TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
There were no changes announced today.
TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
There were rate cuts for term deposits from TSB Bank for terms 1 to 5 years, following others with a slide in these offers.
A NEW RECORD
The average mortgage approval value reached a new record last week of $207,000. Approval values are growing faster than the volume of approvals. Auckland is certainly driving this trend.
STRONG FOUNDATION
Building work put in place rose 0.3% in the December quarter, capping off a 17% increase over 2014. Residential building work rose 4.3%, dominated by the Auckland and Canterbury regions where supply shortages are most prominent. Westpac says they expect construction to remain a significant driver of GDP growth over the next two years. This last quarter delays in Christchurch kept building growth slower than expected.
THE SQUEEZE
The national median rent jumped to $365/week in February, a new record. For a 3br house the jump was to $390/week. In Auckland, it rose to $597/week which is a lot given that a year ago it was $530/week. Rents in the Queen City seem to have risen +13% pa for a 3 br house. In Wellington the jump was to $525/week, in Christchurch it is stable at $450/week.
A PRICE STUTTER?
Barfoot & Thompson's median selling price for Auckland eased back in February as buyers showed "more caution".
WHOLESALE RATES JUMP
Local wholesale swap rates rose sharply higher today, catching up with the yield rises we have been seeing in New York recently. They were up +5 to +7 bps today. The 90 day bank bill rate however slipped -1 bp to 3.62%.
NZ DOLLAR WAITING
Check our real-time charts here. The kiwi dollar has been on the firm side gaining back some of what it lost recently after being aligned with the Aussie. It is now at 75.6 USc, up to to 96.6 AUc, and the TWI is at 79.2.
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7 Comments
Here's a statement issued by Len Brown & Nick Smith this arvo on the Auckland Housing Accord;
Building and Housing Minister Dr Nick Smith and Mayor Len Brown have today welcomed the release of the latest Auckland Housing Accord monitoring report, saying it shows an encouraging start to the second year of the agreement between the Government and the council to address the city’s housing supply and affordability challenge.
“This quarterly report for the first three months of the second year of the Housing Accord shows we are on target for meeting our Year Two target of 13,000. A total of 3291 new sections and dwellings were consented – or just over 25 per cent of the full-year target,” Dr Smith says.
“The collaborative work that the Government and Auckland Council is undertaking with the development community is beginning to pay dividends, with a significant increase in new sections, new houses and new apartments being consented in the first three months of the second Accord year,” Mr Brown says.
“I am particularly encouraged by the 768 apartments consented in this latest quarter – the highest in nine years, and twice the average of the last decade. We are making the rules work to make modern urban city living in Auckland a reality.”
The Auckland Housing Accord, agreed on 1 October 2013, set a target of 39,000 new sections and dwelling consented over three years – with 9000 in Year One, 13,000 in Year Two and 17,000 in Year Three. The first year target of 9000 was exceeded, with 11,060 new sections and dwellings achieved. The latest report shows that at 31 December 2014, 14,351 sections and dwellings had been consented – 2101 ahead of the Accord target for the period.
Other highlights in the report include:
- The number of dwelling consents in Special Housing Areas (SHAs) has increased from 356 at 30 September 2014 to 529 by 31 December 2014;
- The number of new sections granted resource consents in SHAs has increased from 477 at 30 September 2014 to 929 by 31 December 2014;
- The number of available sections has increased for the first time in 12 years to 12,057; and
- 1360 hectares of land outside the 2010 Metropolitan Urban Limit has been given SHA status with the capacity for 14,116 dwellings and 35,000 people.
The Auckland Housing Accord monitoring report, produced jointly by Auckland Council and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), covers the three months from October 2014 to December 2014. The Accord, agreed between the Government and Auckland Council, provides for the creation of SHAs by the council with the approval of Government. Qualifying developments in the areas are able to be streamlined and fast-tracked. Eighty-four SHAs have been created in Auckland since the Accord was signed.
“The council is committed to continuing its collaboration with the Government in the development of new initiatives to address Auckland’s issues of residential affordability, land supply, equity, choice and quality," Mr Brown says.
“We have significantly advanced our infrastructure delivery programme, so the delivery of a range of water, parks, roading and stormwater infrastructure is being planned and delivered where and when it’s needed most to increase the development capacity of residential land.
“The council is beginning to approve massive re-zonings of greenfield areas for residential development. Once the areas ear-marked for rezoning within the 11 greenfield Special Housing Areas are approved, we estimate that there will be approximately nine years ‘ready-to-go’ land supply, which can be readily converted into sections for homes.”
"We are succeeding in growing housing supply with the Accord in Auckland and with five other councils around the country. The number of building consents nationally has grown 81 per cent, from 13,662 in 2011 to 24,717 in 2014. Figures out today from Statistics New Zealand show $15 billion worth of building work was carried out in 2014 - $2.8 billion higher than in 2013, or a 23 percent rise,” Dr Smith says.
“The Government’s KiwiSaver HomeStart, which comes into effect 1 April, will also provide assistance to 90,000 first home buyers putting together a deposit on a house, while our planned second phase of Resource Management Act reforms is aimed at resolving the long-term issues affecting housing affordability and supply.
"We are making progress but more still needs to be done. The Government is working on other complementary initiatives that we will be announcing in coming months," Dr Smith concluded.
Further information on the Auckland Housing Accord is available from: www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/ratesbuildingproperty/housingsupply/
OK it's really only 37 pages but almost all content-free.
People can't live in plans and dreams; they actually need a dwelling (if they can afford one).
This report devotes a lot of paper to what might happen in the future and glosses over the fact that actual building is sputtering at best. The current rate of building might, just might, have matched Auckland's historic population growth rate but won't come within a bull's roar of meeting current demand. Let alone address the chronic housing deficit.
The actual Special Housing Areas are just puttering along at the same rate with Auckland Council now admitting that most of the activity in those areas was happening anyway before the SHA wrapped special status around those areas.
No sign yet that Auckland's Housing Project Office is adding any value at all. Although for those who just love correlations this report does tell us that section prices in Auckland have risen 60% since the HPO started work.
What I find frightening about such reports (with future and talk saying what wonderful committees we have) is that if their was real world numbers and progress they'd be shouting them from the roof tops. X families housed, Y thousand _completions_. economic a small commercial grow occuring in suburbens A B and C from the new population.
Once again, what _isn't_ in the report speaks the loudest. (to me)
As it happened today
More chicanery over forced sale of $39 million mansion
Government Orders sale of $39 million mansion
Chinese buyer registered local coy with foreign shareholders to get around the rules
The real estate agent who managed the sale is surprised. "It was purchased by an Australian company, a company that is registered in Australia. "That company was set up by a major accountancy firm and it warranted that they didn't need Foreign Investment Review Board approval
Real Estate agents say wealthy Asian buyers are willing to pay a third or more than domestic buyers for property they are interested in
http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2015/3/4/property/govt-orders-sale-39m-mansion
Forced sale of $39 million Point Piper mansion could result in bargain basement price
The property was on the market for 6 years. Now it has to be divested in 90 days
More home sales being investigated for breaches of foreign ownership laws
Any Australian that goes to an auction needs to know that they are competing on a level playing field with people that are lawfully able to acquire the property
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