Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.
TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
TSB Bank reduced its 2 and 3 'special' home loan rates today, and Chinese bank ICBC also cut rates bringing them closer to the competitive end of the mortgage market. Also of note is that SBS ended its 4.99% 5 year 'special' and HSBC will end its 5.29% rate set today as well.
TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
The Treasury's Debt Management Office today cut their retail Kiwi Bond rates, the AAA-rated Govt-backed term deposit. Their 2 year rate has dropped -25 bps to 3% and their 4 year 'earthquake' bond rate is down -50 bps also to 3%. Other changes - all reductions - came from Cooperative Bank, Kiwibank who reduced their 90 day Notice Saver, ICBC, General Finance and Westpac. Westpac cut their 30 day account, also to 3%, and their Online Saver to 3% also. Yesterday's RBNZ easing signals have been picked up and passed on quickly by financial institutions. Expect more to follow next week.
AUCKLAND DOMINEERING
QV says the average home's value in Auckland is now $809,000 and has increased 14.6% in the last year. Nationwide, the average is $507,000 up +8.3% but these numbers are being dragged higher by the outlier Auckland results. Wellington is up just +0.7% and Christchurch up by +4.7%. Tauranga is up +5.8%, Hamilton +3.3% and Dunedin by +0.6%.
TIGHT SUPPLY
Stocks of unsold houses are reducing, according to realestate.co.nz inventory data out today. We now have 21.3 weeks of housing for sale at current sale rates, down from 23 weeks last month. You have to go back to March 2007 to find a lower level. In Auckland it is just 10 weeks and that is declining too.
LEARNING NEW WAYS
Our new schools are getting new landlords via a PPP funding model. Four new schools will be build on that basis for almost $300 mln in Auckland, Christchurch (x2) and Queenstown. The Government is saving $27 mln and getting better standard buildings.
CURRENCY BURN
We all know dairy prices are falling, but things are worse in NZ dollars than is generally reported because prices are usually measured in US dollars. But the recent run up in the currency is really putting the squeeze on, and this was emphasised overnight by the latest USDA Oceania price monitoring.
WHOLESALE RATES STEEPEN
Wholesale swap rates fell at the short end and rose at the long end. The 2 year swap is down - bp today to 3.49% while the 10 year swap is up +2 bp to 3.88%. The 90 day bank bill rate is down today like many other short term rates and is now at 3.62%.
ONLINE RETAIL STRONG
Total online retail spending in March was up +11% compared to March 2014 levels. Online purchases at domestic merchants in March were up +7% on the spending levels a year earlier, which is slightly ahead of the growth in spending at physical stores (approx. 5%, based on electronic card transactions). Spending at international sites was very strong in the month of March - up +18% on the level we saw in March last year.
NZ DOLLAR SINKS
The New Zealand dollar continued its drift lower today. As of late this afternoon it is at 75.8 USc, 96.1 AUc, 67.7 euro cents, and the TWI is at 79.4. Check our real-time charts here.
You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.
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