A review of things you need to know before you go home on Wednesday; $1 mln home values widespread, RBNZ FSR review, business confidence high, debt growth slows, swaps up, NZD up

Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
There are no mortgage rate changes to report today.

DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
Credit Union Auckland reduced most of its rates today. The Nelson Building Society (NBS) raised term deposit rates for terms of 6, 12 and 24 months.

$1 MLN CLUB NOT SO EXCLUSIVE ANYMORE
According to myValocity, there are now 187,000 homes in Auckland that are valued at $1 mln or more. That is 41% of all Auckland homes and is up from 11% three years ago. In Hamiltion, 2% are over $1 mln, in Tauranga it's 10%, in Wellintgton it's 12%, In Christchurch it's 4%, in Dunedin 1% and in Queenstown it's 35%. The only other area with a notable level is the Coromandel where 11% (or 2,228 of them) are valued above $1 mln.

HAVE TOOL, WON'T USE 'AT THIS TIME'
RBNZ warns in today's Financial Stability Report that housing imbalances are still important risks. Governor Wheeler says they won't use Debt-To-Income multiple restriction 'at this time'. They also see a rising use by banks of 'hot' overseas funds.

NOT TODAY
Data on building consents are usually released on the last working day of the month - but not today; they have been "delayed" by Stats NZ. Across the ditch, building consents for housing fell -3.3%, their fifth consecutive decline. When they are released here, I expect they will show a rise.

BUSINESS CONFIDENCE STAYS HIGH
Business confidence remains high although it did ease -4 points in November. The economy is still 'riding the wave', says ANZ. The level of firms’ own activity and profit expectations, together with employment and investment intentions, all flag strong growth. The tide is still out when it comes to inflation, though some lift occurred in key measures this month. Firms’ pricing intentions rose from +18 to +21 – still low. Inflation expectations rose from 1.4% to 1.5%. For the first time in nearly two years, a majority of firms expect interest rates to rise (+18).

CHINA CONFIDENCE RETREATS
Following two consecutive monthly increases, the Westpac MNI China Consumer Sentiment Indicator eased to the lowest level since August, led by a pullback in durable buying conditions.

ANOTHER MONTH, DEEPER IN DEBT
Total household bank account deposits rose +7.7% in the year to October according to data released by the RBNZ today. They now total $159.2 bln and up +$11.1 bln in the year. Meanwhile, total household borrowing rose +8.7% to $243.6 bln, a rise of +$19.5 bln in a year. Of course, there is more to our economy than the household sector, but that -$8.4 shortfall basically needs to be made up by overseas borrowing. We have more on today's debt stat updates here.

RAISING STANDARDS
Dodgy practices by dodgy liquidators are finally getting the Government's attention. New sanctions and regulations are being imposed.

WMP PRICES INCH UP
You should know that there have been more futures price signal rises for WMP today. If they are sustained, they indicate WMP prices may rise +2.6% next week.

WHOLESALE RATES RISE TODAY
Wholesale rates reversed the trend of the last few days by turning higher and steeper today. The two year is up +2 bps, the five year is up +3 bps, and the ten year is up +4 bps. The 90-day bank bill is unchanged at 2.03%. Yields on NZGBs are also higher, up +3 bps today.

NZ DOLLAR FIRMS
The Kiwi dollar is up today to 71.5 USc. On the cross rates it is at 95.5 AUc, and is at 67.2 euro cents. The TWI-5 now at 77.1 Check our real-time charts here.

You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.