Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.
MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
Housing NZ Corporation raised their floating rate to 5.65%, a +6 bps rise. Their fixed rates all rose, with the increases being from +5 to +30 bps. ANZ cut its 1 year rate to 4.39%, down -5 bps and raised its 2 year fixed rate to 4.79, up +4 bps.
DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
SBS Bank reduced their headline 9 month term deposit rate by -20 bps to 3.65%. BNZ ended their 8 month (Chinese New Year) special of 3.68%, now back to 3.00%.
TURNING POINT
Greg Ninness is reporting that yields starting to rise on residential investment properties in Auckland as rents rise and capital gains start to dry up. He has all the details here.
UP ACROSS THE BOARD
Retail spending using electronic cards was $5.1 bln in January 2017, up $270 mln or +5.6% from January 2016. All six retail industries had increases. The average transaction was $50.62. (This monthly data is not available by region.)
AUCKLAND COUNCIL WINS
Auckland Council's Independent Hearings Panel 'scope' decisions have been supported on appeal in the High Court. The court was formally asked to rule on seven agreed questions of law. The issue at the heart of the preliminary questions potentially affected 29,000 properties originally zoned Single House and Mixed Housing Suburban in the notified Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan. The test cases affected Mt Albert, Glendowie, Blockhouse Bay, Judges Bay, Grey Lynn, Takanini, Howick and Parnell. Challenges to the Unitary Plan have now been whittled down significantly with this decision. The intensification goals are now closer.
DEADLINE TOMORROW
If your property was damaged during the Kaikoura Earthquake, you need to make your claim by midnight 14 February. If you have damage to your house or contents you should contact your insurance company as they are handling building and contents claims for EQC. However, EQC is managing all claims for land damage.
CONTACT BOND PRICED
The $100 mln rollover bond offer from Contact Energy we previewed last week was officially launched today with an interest rate of swap plus 1.50% to 1.65%. Given today's 5 year swap rate of 2.97%, the final rate will be in the range of 4.47% to 4.62%.
HI YER OCKER
The Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will make an official visit to New Zealand this week. Prime Minister Turnbull, Treasurer Scott Morrison and Industry Minister, Senator Arthur Sinodinos, arrive in Queenstown for the annual Australia-New Zealand Leaders’ meeting on Friday, 17 February. Our Finance Minister Steven Joyce and Economic Development Minister Simon Bridges will also join the meeting.
CUTTING THE MAX. MORTGAGE TERM
Beijing’s government has shortened the mortgage duration of second-home borrowers living in the city, taking another step to clamp down on speculative home buying and control runaway prices. Buyers who already own one residential property are now only eligible to take out a mortgage on a second home for no more than 25 years, cutting back the loan period from the previous 30 years, according to several agents in the city.
WHOLESALE RATES LITTLE CHANGED
As is usual on a Monday, there has been little change today. Terms of 2 to 7 years are all up just +1 bp. The 90 day bank bill rate is also up +1 bp and now at 2.03%.
NZ DOLLAR SLIPS SLIGHTLY
There is a soft tone around the Kiwi dollar today although the movements are not large. Against the US dollar we are now down to 71.9 USc. On the cross rates we are at 93.8 AUc, and at 67.7 euro cents. The TWI-5 index has fallen to 77.3. Check our real-time charts here.
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8 Comments
Japan’s economy expanded for a fourth straight quarter at the end of 2016, with recovering global demand fueling export gains that offset soft domestic consumption.
Gross domestic product expanded 1 percent on an annualized basis from the previous quarter in the three months through December, according to data released by the Cabinet Office on Monday (median estimate of economists +1.1 percent).
Measured quarter on quarter, GDP rose 0.2 percent (estimate +0.3 percent)
Private consumption was unchanged (estimate 0 percent).
Business spending rose 0.9 percent (estimate +1.2 percent).
Net exports, or shipments less imports, added 0.2 percentage point to GDP. Read more
The intensification goals are now closer.
Nope.
Every builder can do the math, they could pay 2-3x as much to buy land in Auckland or they can build anywhere else and make more money. Stuff all has been built in Auckland and stuff all will continue to be built in Auckland, the land costs too much.
The Auckland Council is very effectively pricing intensification out of Auckland, meanwhile the sprawls of Silverdale and Kumeu expand ever outwards.
Things are hotting up on capital flight: Major Chinese bitcoin exchanges halt withdrawals after crackdown
Watch the Auckland housing market take another dive.
Virtual currency under fire as central bank tries to stem capital flight
FT Article: https://www.ft.com/content/415bf86c-ef67-11e6-930f-061b01e23655
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