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Editors choice comments

Less landlords does not mean less houses. It means more owners and less renters.
It will be positive for the housing shortage, and positive for the economy when former or potential landlords invest in something productive instead.

by: dtcarter

on Property Institute warns the Government's moves to 'ring fence' property tax losses will have a 'disastrous impact' on the market and significantly worsen the already existing rental accommodation shortage
... what surprises me is how slow it's been for alternative forms of financing to take a bite out of the big banks lunch ...
These mega-firms from Australia are feasting mightily upon the highly leveraged property and farm owners of New Zealand ...
... where's the creative disruption at , innovative small firms and products , little feeders taking multiple chomps out of the behemoths' banquet ?

by: Gummy Bear Hero

on Despite the revelations from Australia's Financial Services Royal Commission going from bad to worse, don't expect the local offshoots of Australia's big banks to face the same scrutiny in NZ
We had nine years of a four headed coalition. National couldn't pass any laws on its own. Yet when labour is in power suddenly this is a problem wasn't a problem for Clark either. What is it with reporters these days and their allergy to MMP

by: dtcarter

on Despite National’s attempts to paint the three-headed Government as uneasy bedfellows, the Labour, Greens & NZ First alliance has held up rather well… so far
A good top ten. I was a AI doubter until the recent improvements in face recognition and language translation.
A useful comparison to long gestation of AI is the development of the railways. That took a couple of centuries to develop boilers that didn't explode, efficiency so it could carry its fuel and lightness so the rails didn't snap. When they did arrive it was quietly in 1825 Stockton Darlington and then with massive publicity 5 years later at the Manchester Liverpool line. Did the first passengers in 1830 expect rails crossing the USA and India within their lifetimes and speeds...

by: Lapun

on Tom Coupé on Artificial Intelligence including computers reaching human-like intelligence, will we lose our jobs, self-driving cars, Mark Zuckerberg's trash & more
So far the government measures to tackle the housing problem remain as planned moves. Ring-fencing,extension to bright-line test, ban on letting fees, foreign-buyer ban.None have actually crystallised into legislation.
And the Auckland 2017 rating valuations remain on paper.The actual rates payable on the steeply uprated valuations would only kick in later,perhaps July onwards.
So the slump now may be the market pausing with bated breadth, blood-letting staunched ,albeit temporarily.
What happens when the measures & rates actually kick-in? I am busy crystal ball gazing & the initial...

by: Jaf

on Total residential real estate commissions are estimated to have slumped by $227 million in the 12 months to March, but the loss of blood may have finally been staunched, says Greg Ninness
An interesting article. I know whats easiest. Trawl the saleyards, buy what you see you can make money from. Dont worry about the fancy pants ideas. Try and live life without getting too bogged down in finding that new angle. Best left to the more energetic youth. If only there were some young farmers out there ...

by: Belle

on Farmers have to think more like marketers and less like farmers to remain relevant and profitable because relying on their processors alone won't make this happen, says St John Craner
The diplomatic relationship between China and the US at the moment is like a wife and a husband who cannot afford a divorce.

by: xingmowang

on Siah Hwee Ang says we are accustomed to a regime that centres around the US ‘leading the world’, but now China is actively seeking out and willing to take on some of these roles
What can't be dismissed is that if major banks are predicting decline, this means that they will be tightening their lending criteria. Banks adjust to the risks they perceive, whether you agree with them or not. If they are perceiving risk and downside, this will affect the housing market, irrelevant of buyer/seller sentiment. You can only buy with what the bank will lend and when banks perceive downside, they lend with more caution.
Google "mortgage fraud NZ" and you will find the results are page after page of headlines reporting millions of dollars of mortgage fraud over the last few...

by: gingerninja

on Westpac report says the good times in the residential property market will "end very soon"
ANZ offers 4.25% - sheesh - I thought the headline was for a term deposit rate!

by: fat pat

on New Zealand's largest home loan lender launches a limited time one year 'special' that undercuts all its main rivals
An interesting article. It would be good to see some similar articles based on comments (as there are some gems out there)
The important thing with comments is
a) To remember they are just an opinion, and
b) You/me/we have no choice but to take them at face value - i.e. you don't have the full back story of the poster, or an understanding of what experiences they may have had to lead up to that comment.
c) Also they only provide a limited insight into the opinion. I don't think it is valid or fair to expect detailed analysis, rebuttal, citations, etc... in the comments section. Agree or...

by: Noncents

on One for the commenters... PhD student Kade Sorensen uses 10 interest.co.nz comments to jump into the debate on a fuel tax, B&T sales data, the minimum wage, interest rates and more
I wonder if Kade is making the same mistake many of us also make - taking part of a comment out of context, and then jumping to a conclusion from that position. For example my comment about the trucks, while including the accident stats, was more about the fact that trucks are subsidised, by having the damage they do to the roads paid for by all road users. Subsequent comments clarified this. But despite the apparent polarised perspective i do understand that ALL trucks cannot be taken off the roads, but was only suggesting that a more balanced approach that ensures rail, which is also a more...

by: murray86

on One for the commenters... PhD student Kade Sorensen uses 10 interest.co.nz comments to jump into the debate on a fuel tax, B&T sales data, the minimum wage, interest rates and more
I will admit this move has given me mixed feelings. I have enjoyed the freedom and ease of living that the oil industry has offered through my lifetime, but I do know that we cannot continue doing this, and not being fully informed on what we do for alternatives, it makes me a bit nervous. I think I feel a bit relieved that we at least are prepared to do something, even though, at the same time, I have a measure of fear.
The transition from oil and gas will not be as easy as the transition to it was, but I think we all know, no matter how little, that we cannot continue on the same path....

by: PocketAces

on PM Jacinda Ardern announces the Government will not grant any more offshore oil and gas exploration permits
Did he win on the pokies?

by: ngakonui gold

on Bankrupt builder Li Dong Xie spent $1.5 million on pokies at SkyCity, that he could have used to repay creditors, and then tried to skip the country
As someone with skin in the 'AI' game, I regularly chuckle at the spin from self promoted developers of AI for some professions. In almost all cases, their products are simply efficiency refinements of existing processes; useful and needed, but not AI.
We are involved with two professions and deeply analyse the offerings of our competitors. All are innovative, a small number evolutionary, and they will cut labour costs and modify the way those professions operate. But NONE, are genuinely disruptive AI; despite the claims of their proponents, earnestly and falsely repeated at trade shows and...

by: middleman

on OECD working paper on automation of jobs highlights 'the interesting case' of NZ where growth of cognitive jobs, professionals & managerial roles has workers among the best placed in the OECD
I think it would be dangerous to relax the LVRs until interest rates start rising again. At the moment alot of people out there are fooled into believing that interest rates can stay this low indefinately.
Allowing more leverage on the cusp on new pressures that will undoubtedly have further downward pressure on prices would be enticing those into situations that can lead into a negative equity situation.
By the time interest rates rise (probably mid to late this year due to US OCR rises) the foreign buyer ban will be in place, immigration will have fallen and a clear view on where the market...

by: theglc

on New RBNZ Governor Adrian Orr gets an early opportunity to strike a favourable impression with the public late next month by further loosening the LVR lending restrictions
An increase in mental health spending would help a lot. The number of recent suicides of people that I know is rather concerning. I don't think GDP growth was helping their wellbeing at all.
One of the reasons for GDP being pushed so much is that until recently it did improve people's wellbeing significantly. It is the whole point of economics.
What's so Orwellian about making people's lives better, as opposed to 1984 using propaganda to say that everything was fine or someone else's fault when things were going badly.

by: dictator

on It will be a world first and the Treasury is already hard at work developing a wellbeing framework. But what should it include?
I cant see how this law is anything but sensible. In what possible way could it be argued as reasonable to offset income losses against a completely separate entity even while you make capital gains? Its just fake losses passed through and locked in. What if everyone offset their income to 0 and lived of capital gains... Frankly the law doesnt go far enough.

by: Laminar

on IRD releases 'ring-fencing' paper; Revenue Minister encourages feedback on proposal to ensure investors can't offset losses on property investments against other income
I think it's an excellent idea!

by: jcs

on IRD releases 'ring-fencing' paper; Revenue Minister encourages feedback on proposal to ensure investors can't offset losses on property investments against other income
Dont ever be intimidated by banks, they are a a business just like the fruit and veg shop on Dominion Road ........... they need to make a profit and make sure their customers stay with them .
As a Baby -Boomer , I took out my first mortgage in 1981 at a rate I cannot even remember ............. but it was expensive , and there was NO NEGOTIATION whatsoever .
I was called in to sign the docs , and this old bugger who had me signed up had an office with dark wood panels with bookshelves . I wondered why a banker would need all those books , it looked to me like it was for show
He had a...

by: Boatman

on Gareth Vaughan takes a look at the interest rate environment for borrowers after receiving a surprise offer from his bank
I've just refixed in the last week. I made a low offer to my bank - well below carded special, and below my previous rate - that I fully expected to be rejected and negotiate to a mid ground rate. But they sat on it for 24 hours hours and then accepted. Go lower than you'd think.

by: NomNomNom

on Gareth Vaughan takes a look at the interest rate environment for borrowers after receiving a surprise offer from his bank
Funny to watch this all play out.
Moaning about not reaching 100,000 in the first month of the new Government, then they'll be moaning about the buildings, then there will be moaning about build quality, moan, moan, moan, moan, moan.
This Government might actually achieve something close to what it has set out to achieve - so I interpret 90% of the moaning as "oh sh*t they might actually increase housing supply and reduce house prices"

by: Zombie ponzi

on Housing and Urban Development Minister says 29 hectares of Unitec land at Mt Albert will be transferred to Crown ownership; between 3000 and 4000 homes to be constructed
Yes, I read the ANZ report as follows:"We appear to have reached maximum extractive capacity in Auckland. However, there is plenty of unused extractive capacity to go in the regions, and we expect to take full advantage of this."
The banks are the main beneficiaries of rising house prices as their income goes up with the increase in household debt. They are the primary mechanism whereby lower interest rates are transferred into higher capital values.
However, in the larger world, the tide has turned:https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/USD3MTD156N

by: Roger Witherspoon

on Investor caution and stretched housing affordability will prevent Auckland housing from taking off again, economists from country's biggest mortgage lender say
Squeaky bum time for bloated asset prices incoming. The era of cheap money is drawing to a close.

by: Brock Landers

on With the latest hike in the US Fed funds benchmark, we are now in territory not seen in decades. Can low NZ rates be sustained in the face of these changes?
It's certainly true that many citizens like to put their hands out for more spending (by other people) on the things they like, and that many pollies like to throw (other people's) money at lovely cuddly things. They accompany this with remarks like "lovely cuddly things, no matter what it costs" and "how can you put values on such lovely cuddly things" and "lovely cuddly things are more important than mere money".
If Treasury get this initiative right - which is a very substantial "if" - such irresponsible behaviour will actually become more difficult, not less. That is because it will...

by: Ms de Meanour

on How future governments' policies and spending priorities will be shaped by both wellbeing and GDP being factored into their decision-making
Interesting read. It does make one wonder if the increasing party control will at some stage lead to civil unrest. Although, as Rudd points out, the party came into power through the gun .... and they still have the most guns.

by: surfisup

on Kevin Rudd lays out how and why China wants changes in the world, what drives Xi Jinping, and what risks and traps we face if there is a western policy vacuum on China