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A review of things you need to know before you go home on Tuesday; housing confidence waivers, April house prices sag, new RBNZ data, swap rates recover, NZD doesn't

A review of things you need to know before you go home on Tuesday; housing confidence waivers, April house prices sag, new RBNZ data, swap rates recover, NZD doesn't

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

TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
Today TSB Bank raised its unique 10 year fixed home loan rate by +6 bps to 5.95% from 5.89%. See new RBNZ data below.

TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
Heartland Bank dropped its 6 and 9 month term deposit rates by -10 bps, and all its rates from 18 months to 5 years are lower from -10 to -45 bps.

BUYER RESISTANCE
Housing confidence is waivering. More people are now saying now is not a good time to buy.

END-OF-SEASON SAG
April house sales data was out today from REINZ. That showed a step back from the sharp price rises in March, but those Auckland median prices have stayed high. But even here there are signs of some price pull-back. The level of transactions remained high however; April volumes were at their highest level in eight years.

WOOL PRICES JUMP
Coarse (carpet) wool prices have seen quite a jump recently. But that is not the same for fine or mid-micron wools.

EASING OFF
ANZ's Truckometer series was out again today suggesting economic growth locally is leveling off. Growth in the Heavy Traffic Index suggests a modest Q1 GDP outturn of around 0.5%, but the index may be losing steam. This is consistent with the anticipated drought impact on the economy and may not necessarily presage a more generalised slowdown. "However, a moderation is still a moderation," says ANZ. Conversely, their Light Traffic Index remains very upbeat. 

POSITIVE EXPERIENCES
The New Zealand accommodation industry is having a dream run. Tourism is flourishing, despite the relatively high dollar. Data out today showed guest nights up +7.5% over the same March a year ago.

EYE-POPPING REVEAL
New data out today from the RBNZ shows how much home loan borrowers are paying in interest every quarter. That number is $930 mln every month, or at the rate of $11.2 bln a year. That same data shows we are drawing loans down at the rate of $4.7 bln per month ($160 mln per day) and paying them back at the rate of $3.9 bln per month ($129 mln per day).

WHOLESALE RATES RECOVER
Yesterday's sharp tumble in swap rates has been reversed today. Not fully, but most of the falls have been recovered in trading today. The 90 day bank bill rate is also back up most of the way and now at 3.56%.

NZ DOLLAR STAYS LOWER
Unlike todays interest rates, the New Zealand dollar has stayed down. As of late this afternoon it is at 73.5 USc and the lowest since mid-March, 92.9 AUc, 65.9 euro cents, and the TWI-5 is now at 76.9. Check our real-time charts here.

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

Daily exchange rates

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Daily benchmark rate
Source: RBNZ
Daily benchmark rate
Source: RBNZ
Daily benchmark rate
Source: RBNZ
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Source: RBNZ
Daily benchmark rate
Source: RBNZ
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Source: RBNZ
Daily benchmark rate
Source: RBNZ
End of day UTC
Source: CoinDesk

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4 Comments

That same data shows we are drawing loans down at the rate of $4.7 bln per month ($160 mln per day) and paying them back at the rate of $3.9 bln per month ($129 mln per day).

Cripes, the liability is rising and the collateral is starting to wobble - no wonder ANZ started cheerleading interest rate cuts- but the question remains, how much can the RBNZ pull financial gain forward without destabilising the whole shooting match.

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again...is a gain, is a what?

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-11/america-s-future-got-…

Tax increase, on the cards. Debt ridden to breaking point...for others...on the cards and on the way.

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and yet actually, no. I mean the " Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget" you just know its coming from far right wing crackpots.

In terms of social security the trend has been flat except for private healthcare it seems,

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/05/02/poverty-policy-truths/?modu…

So are you looking for info to support your world view? or looking for info to form a world view?

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NIWA data, seems that 2015 will be an El Nino year..

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/weather/bureau-of-meteorology-declare…

"While the impacts of an El Nino vary, the tendency towards lower-than-average rainfall across eastern Australia is a common feature for the bulk of the 27 events recorded since 1900 by the bureau."

and NZ? ho hum.

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