Bernard Hickey

About

Bernard is back as a senior contributor on interest.co.nz. Until September 30, 2012 he was the managing editor here. He had previously worked for 18 years for Reuters, the FT Group and Fairfax as a financial journalist and editor. He is now the publisher of The Kaka.

Member for

14 years 5 months

Latest articles

Business confidence up, but pricing pressures weak

NZIER's QSBO finds business confidence improved to 2-year high in Sept qtr; but capacity utilisation measure falls and net 4% report cutting prices

4th Oct 16, 10:02am

by Bernard Hickey

NZIER's QSBO finds business confidence improved to 2-year high in Sept qtr; but capacity utilisation measure falls and net 4% report cutting prices

Mike Greer calls for Govt-funded house building push

Country's biggest house builder says Auckland housing crisis requires major Government investment to fund housing, infrastructure; also calls for Council action and for MUDs to be considered; Housing NZ sees scope for 30,000 new Auckland homes

25th Sep 16, 10:26pm

by Bernard Hickey

Key, Smith challenged on building consent completion rate

Labour challenges Key view that "virtually 100%" of building consents turn into actual houses; Twyford cites Statistics NZ estimates of new dwellings being 800 a month or 13% lower than dwelling consents since 2014; Smith insists almost all will be built

25th Sep 16, 9:53pm

by Bernard Hickey

A rough 30 years for the young, with more to come

Kiwis born since 1985 have largely missed out on the explosive gains in wealth and higher incomes seen since then. Now they are being set up to pay for baby-boomers' retirement without a big enough NZ Super Fund to help them, Bernard Hickey writes

25th Sep 16, 5:02am

by Bernard Hickey

How to think about fixing or floating with a falling OCR

Bernard Hickey looks at whether to fix or float and how long to fix as the Reserve Bank looks to cut the OCR again later this year and as the banks refuse to pass on lower wholesale rates

23rd Sep 16, 7:52pm

by Bernard Hickey

Bernard Hickey looks at whether to fix or float and how long to fix as the Reserve Bank looks to cut the OCR again later this year and as the banks refuse to pass on lower wholesale rates

RBNZ leaves OCR at 2.0%

RBNZ leaves Official Cash Rate on hold at 2.0% as expected; says "further policy easing will be required"; says a "decline in the exchange rate is needed"; says seeing signs LVR changes and tighter bank lending criteria are moderating housing market

22nd Sep 16, 9:11am

by Bernard Hickey

Govt may have to counter Unitary Plan appeals

Smith says Government looking at becoming a party to Unitary Plan appeals to combat any delays in bringing new housing supply to Auckland market

20th Sep 16, 4:11pm

by Bernard Hickey

Smith says Government looking at becoming a party to Unitary Plan appeals to combat any delays in bringing new housing supply to Auckland market

Buyer be very aware

Rules around body corporates need tightening before a whole new generation of Auckland apartment buyers are burnt by poor disclosure, inadequate maintenance and dodgy building quality

18th Sep 16, 5:02am

by Bernard Hickey

Rules around body corporates need tightening before a whole new generation of Auckland apartment buyers are burnt by poor disclosure, inadequate maintenance and dodgy building quality

GDP growth at 3.6%

GDP grew 0.9% in June qtr; up 3.6% from June qtr of 2015; slightly below economists' forecasts; unchanged from revised-up March qtr; construction up 5% in June qtr while household consumption up 1.9%

15th Sep 16, 11:01am

by Bernard Hickey

GDP grew 0.9% in June qtr; up 3.6% from June qtr of 2015; slightly below economists' forecasts; unchanged from revised-up March qtr; construction up 5% in June qtr while household consumption up 1.9%

Key wary of foreign buyer taxes and AML move

PM says wary of policy action that could cause catastrophic slump in housing market; points to Australia; says Govt must protect home owners' equity; also wary of 2nd round of Anti Money Laundering controls as may increase agent/lawyer costs

13th Sep 16, 11:41am

by Bernard Hickey

154

Hostage to a fortune

Bernard Hickey argues the Government should help break the lending drought threatening the Auckland housing building boom by focusing KiwiSaver HomeStart on funding new builds

11th Sep 16, 5:02am

by Bernard Hickey

Bernard Hickey argues the Government should help break the lending drought threatening the Auckland housing building boom by focusing KiwiSaver HomeStart on funding new builds

Labour wants tighter migration settings

Little wants settings for work visas reviewed so low-skilled migrants are not taking jobs unemployed young locals could fill; attacks Key over comments workers 'on drugs and lazy'; wants lower residency target; Labour also wants export education inquiry

6th Sep 16, 4:51pm

by Bernard Hickey

Key says migrants doing jobs Kiwis won't or can't

PM says migrants needed for low-wage jobs such as fruit picking, cafe work because NZers can't or won't do the work, or live elsewhere; says employers cite drug and health problems for locals; migration 'adds value' to country

5th Sep 16, 1:16pm

by Bernard Hickey

165

Let's build like it's 1974

Bernard Hickey argues New Zealand needs to rediscover its 1974 house building mojo, which means building a lot more smaller, simpler homes with Government backing

4th Sep 16, 5:02am

by Bernard Hickey

140

Bernard Hickey argues New Zealand needs to rediscover its 1974 house building mojo, which means building a lot more smaller, simpler homes with Government backing

Tax the land bankers

Bernard Hickey argues a land tax and/or targeted rates would change the expectations of unending tax-free capital gains with low holding costs that is driving a frenzy of land-banking in Auckland

28th Aug 16, 5:02am

by Bernard Hickey

125

Bernard Hickey argues a land tax and/or targeted rates would change the expectations of unending tax-free capital gains with low holding costs that is driving a frenzy of land-banking in Auckland

RBNZ's Wheeler defends inflation targeting

Governor defends flexible inflation targeting regime; sticks with MPS view of another 35 bps of OCR cuts; says holding OCR would push up NZ$; but says more aggressive cuts would not lower NZ$ much and would worsen housing imbalances

23rd Aug 16, 9:20am

by Bernard Hickey

60% of Auckland voters want lower house prices

UMR poll finds 60% of Aucklanders over 18 would prefer house prices fell a bit or dramatically; 63% of NZers want lower house prices; 55% of home owners would like lower prices; 85% of Aucklanders see housing crisis

22nd Aug 16, 3:46pm

by Bernard Hickey

184

Unleash the market

Bernard Hickey says a surge of low-skilled migration is frustrating the natural forces of supply and demand that would generate the wage inflation that both the Reserve Bank and the Government need in the long run

21st Aug 16, 5:02am

by Bernard Hickey

Jobless rate dips to 5.1%

Statistics NZ reports unemployment fell to 5.1% in June quarter from revised 5.2% in March quarter; Under-utilisation rate, which includes unemployed and those who want more work, at 12.7%; 342,000 out of work or want more work

17th Aug 16, 11:16am

by Bernard Hickey

Govt denies low-skilled migration suppressing wages

Woodhouse says no evidence yet that high temporary migration is suppressing wages at the low end; English says watching skill levels and wages closely; Pressure growing on Govt as ANZ, RBNZ, Auckland Chamber of Commerce call for migration review

16th Aug 16, 2:37pm

by Bernard Hickey

English defends Wheeler's performance vs PTA

English says unfair to say Wheeler has failed to meet his performance target on keeping inflation around 2% when global inflation is very low and NZ economy is growing faster than 3%; says 2nd term up to board

16th Aug 16, 1:07pm

by Bernard Hickey

You only had one job

Bernard Hickey argues those saying the Reserve Bank should just give up on reaching its 2% inflation target need to remember the people who won't get jobs and the exporters who will be sacrificed

14th Aug 16, 5:02am

by Bernard Hickey

Bernard Hickey argues those saying the Reserve Bank should just give up on reaching its 2% inflation target need to remember the people who won't get jobs and the exporters who will be sacrificed

Wheeler wants most of OCR cut passed on

RBNZ's Wheeler expects banks to pass on most of OCR cut; says RBNZ will send debt to income multiple limit plan to English in next week or two, but unlikely to be introduced this year; says migration putting downward pressure on wages

11th Aug 16, 11:11am

by Bernard Hickey

NZ$ jumps as RBNZ disappoints

RBNZ cuts OCR by 25 bps to 2.0% and forecasts just one more cut; NZ$ sprints over 73 USc after markets had forecast chance of 50 bps cut

11th Aug 16, 9:12am

by Bernard Hickey

RBNZ cuts OCR by 25 bps to 2.0% and forecasts just one more cut; NZ$ sprints over 73 USc after markets had forecast chance of 50 bps cut

Key expects banks to pass on OCR cut

PM expects banks to be good corporate citizens and pass on all of OCR in full if they can; Key deflects calls for migration review; says migration needed with 5.2% unemployment; says RBNZ has flexibility with inflation target, but can use LVRs and cut OCR

8th Aug 16, 7:12pm

by Bernard Hickey