While Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard raised interest rates this morning, as everyone expected, he surprised the market with his surprisingly dovish rhetoric.

An interest rate rise this week is as much of a dead certainty as you can get in the money markets.

A number of mortgage brokers are convinced that Southland Building Society (SBS) charges their clients a fee for home loans that it wouldn’t charge customers who approach the building society directly, but SBS insists this isn’t the case.

ASB Bank continued to be the major winner in the mortgage market in the June quarter, grabbing 35.9% of the $3.26 billion in net new mortgages written in the quarter.

A new organisation to represent finance brokers is in the throes of being born.

Imagine if each individual mortgage broker could decide for themselves how much upfront commission and how much trail commission they could receive on every individual deal.

The New Zealand Mortgage Brokers’ Association has complained to the Commerce Commission about the Bank of New Zealand’s anti-broker campaign.

The New Zealand Mortgage Brokers’ Association has complained to the Commerce Commission about the Bank of New Zealand’s anti-broker campaign.

Pioneer Mortgage Services new managing director Charles Weiser says that one of his main reasons for joining the company was its "huge growth potential."

Westpac’s moves to change the commission structure governing its dealings with mortgage brokers appear to have had widespread acceptance among the major broking groups.

The real bite into homeowners’ pockets as a result of the Reserve Bank raising interest rates won’t hit until up to about 18 months, says ANZ Bank economist Cameron Bagrie.

In keeping with the signals coming from the Australian headquarters of New Zealand’s banks, Westpac in New Zealand has moved to restructure the commissions it pays mortgage brokers to better reflect the value of the business they bring in.

The latest housing market figures continue to show a mixed picture with the national median house price slipping and the number of days it takes to sell a house creeping up but the number of sales rose.

Mortgage broking accounts for a relatively small part of New Zealand Finance Holdings’ business, but the prospectus for the financial services company’s $2.94 million float provides further insights into the industry.

A sizeable number of New Zealand Mortgage Brokers’ Association members want the practice of "mortgage reduction" banned for NZMBA members but others worry that excluding those engaged in such practices will mean the NZMBA has no jurisdiction over them.

The New Zealand Mortgage Brokers’ Association is working on getting the government to accept a regulatory framework based on self-regulation with "empowering legislation" backing it up, retiring association chairman Brian Berry says.