Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.
TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
ASB and BankDirect both raised their variable rate by +10 bps to 5.65%. (Sovereign made a similar change late last week.)
TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
No changes here today.
A BLIND EYE
Although the FMA warns commissions paid to financial advisers risk bumping up the price of life insurance, and it issued a report highly critical of adviser/broker churn (especially by some AFAs), minister Goldsmith remains adamant commissions won't be banned. The evidence the FMA produced today is fairly ugly and shows how commission signals can distort behaviour.
A BIG UPGRADE
We have launched an important upgrade of our home loan affordability reporting. The May details are here. The explanation of what has changed and why is here.
CHRISTCHURCH CONVENTION CENTRE GETS FINAL TICK
An icon convention centre is to be developed in Christchurch with a key approval announced today. It is now "on course" to open in late 2019. Funding is allocation, but the amount held back while negotiations with potential contractors is completed.
ONLINE SALES BOOMING
BNZ is reporting that online retail sales at local sites followed a strong April with a similarly positive result in May - up +15% on May last year. Online purchases by Kiwi’s from offshore sites also turned in double digit-growth (up +13% on last May), albeit not quite as strong as in recent months.
BANKERS TALK THEMSELVES UP
The NZ Bankers Association is saying the NZ banks are "strong, well-funded and well regulated." They also say “New Zealand can have confidence in our banking system. Our banks were resilient in the GFC, and we remain well positioned to withstand any turbulence in the global economy.”
IMPORTANT KIWISAVER REMINDER
You have until June 30 (that is, tomorrow) to ensure you have made personal contributions of at least $1,042.86 in the past year. If you think you have missed out via your employer systems, you can top it up via your internet banking systems, making a contribution directly to the IRD. By making a contribution of at least that amount you will then qualify for the maximum Government subsidy of $521.43. What's not to like about over $500 of free money? It's worth the effort.
SUMMER SIZZLE IN WINTER
Winter mortgage approvals are running strongly. They are up +10% in number from the same period a year ago and up +20% in value.
SWAP RATES RISE
Swap rates rose today, up +2 or +3 bps across the curve. NZ swap rates are here. The 90-day bank bill rate is up again and by another +3 bps, now at 2.40%. That actually takes it back to about its highest since the March OCR cut.
NZ DOLLAR UP
They are not big moves, but the next result today is a further firming of our currency. The NZD is at 70.8 USc, at 95.6 AUc, and 64.1 euro cents. The TWI-5 is now just over 74.7. Check our real-time charts here.
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9 Comments
The NZ Bankers Association is saying the NZ banks are "strong, well-funded and well regulated." They also say “New Zealand can have confidence in our banking system. Our banks were resilient in the GFC, and we remain well positioned to withstand any turbulence in the global economy.”
Who had enough authority to claim otherwise?
News out of Sydney is not encouraging for the Aussie banks' parents.
Stand-alone house sales in New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, dropped the most since August 2010 in May, data from the Housing Industry Association show, another indication the property boom is losing momentum. Read more
"Prime Minister John Key doesn't think Britain's exit from the European Union will trigger another global financial crisis."
And he doesn't believe New Zealand's economy will suffer.
"The markets will settle down, I don't think it will cause a repeat of the global financial crisis," he told reporters on Monday.
WOW, get that super hero a cape!
Fed Farmers making claims
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/farming/dairy/81595648/rivers-will-not-…
As regular readers of this site will know, I have repeatedly warned of the extreme danger posed by overheating of the Earth associated with excessive atmospheric CO2 caused by anthropogenic emissions.
Today, Auckland witnessed a tiny taste of what it to come as atmospheric chemistry gets increasingly displaced from historical norms by industrial humans.
'NIWA said 25.4mm of rain was recorded between 1pm and 2pm in Auckland - making it the city's wettest hour ever recorded in June.'
'What we know so far:
People reportedly trapped in submerged car in Pukekohe
Cars reportedly washed away in Onehunga
Multiple homes flooded across west Auckland
Person trapped in flooded building in Onehunga
People trapped in car which entered a stormwater drain in Puni, Franklin
Two cars trapped in floodwater in west Auckland
Buildings flooded at Matipo Primary, Te Atatu
Creeks overflowed in Swanson and Mount Roskill
A car had also entered a stormwater drain on Waiuku Rd in Puni, Franklin. The occupants were unable to exit due to the floodwater, the communications team said on Twitter.'
http://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/national/homes-flooded-by-record-setting-…
With no serious agenda of reducing emissions anywhere in the world, we must anticipate everything that matters to continue to be made worse faster.
I hear you, and the climate is probably heading in a bad direction. But...
You can't take a localised example, there are many instances of crazy rainfall around New Zealand. What you would want to see to make a valid point is crazy rain rates in lots of localities.
Back in the early 2000's I experienced 225mm in 12 hours in the Auckland Region. Check that one out, there was an All Blacks test, probably in Aussie, that night. Nelson has had much worse rates than that. Go to Piririki, there is a plaque on the side of the track cut into the gorge that shows the level of the 1906 flood, it is gobsmacking to look around and consider the water flows from that even.
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