A review of things you need to know before you go home on Wednesday; RaboDirect cuts deposit rates; LVR restrictions stay

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

TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
There were no changes to report today.

TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
RaboDirect cut their 2, 3 & 4-year term deposit rates by 15 basis points and the 5-year deposit by 10 basis points.

LVR RESTRICTIONS STAY PUT FOR NOW
The risk of resurgent house price inflation was a major factor in the RBNZ leaving the LVR restrictions in place for now. Before restrictions can be eased the RBNZ needs to be satisfied that house price inflation has cooled in a substantial way and would not specify a timeframe as to when the hand brake might be released.

BANKS REQUIRED TO HOLD MORE CAPITAL
The RBNZ is manoeuvring to introduce an income based rule rather than a set number of properties per investor rule in a bid to force banks to hold more capital against loans to rental property investors. Deputy Governor Grant Spencer said the Reserve Bank is proposing a separate asset class of residential property investment and trying to get consistent treatment across the banks.

NO PROPERTY BUBBLE IN AUCKLAND
RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler says annual Auckland house price inflation of 8.5% is "not a bubble", but it would have been a bubble at over 20% without LVR restrictions. Auckland's housing market suffers from supply shortages and the combination of interest rates at 50 year lows, aggressive bank lending and rising net migration, he said. The high LVR speed limit had helped to reduce Auckland's annual house price inflation from around 17% at the time to around 8.5% now, he said.

GUEST NIGHTS RECORD FOR SEPTEMBER
The StatsNZ Accommodation survey records the highest number of guest nights for a September month since the data series started in January 2001. Total guest nights year-on-year rose by 6.2% with 11 of the 12 regions showing gains. The largest rises were seen in both the North Island and Domestic guest night categories.

FONTERRA REAFFIRMS MILK PRICE FORECAST
At its annual meeting Fonterra has reaffirmed it plans to pay its farmers $5.30 per kilogramme of milk solids for the 2015 season.

WOMEN OUT-NUMBER MEN
As at September 30, Stats NZ estimates there are 4,520,600 residents in New Zealand up 1.4% over the same period last year. Based on these estimates there are 89,000 more females than males. Females currently make up 51% of the total population.

WHOLESALE RATES
Domestic swap rates were higher across the curve following the RBNZ's Financial Stability Report and Governor Wheeler stating LVR restrictions would stay in the interim. The 90 day bank bill rate is unchanged at 3.68%.

OUR CURRENCY HOLDS
Check our real-time charts here. The NZ dollar drifted lower immediately following the RBNZ announcement this morning before doing a u-turn and heading higher. Against the US dollar it is now at 78.1 USc, at 89.9 AUc, and the TWI is at 77.3.

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