Asteron, formerly Royal & SunAlliance Financial Services and a subsidiary of listed insurance company Promina, will be launching its new home loan products with a roadshow beginning Monday, March 29.

Prices of existing houses showed further weakness in January, but that reflects more sales of lower valued properties and a marked slowdown in sales of higher valued properties.

Lenders are justified in refusing to finance wrap loans, according to New Zealand Mortgage Brokers Association chairman Brian Berry.

One Auckland mortgage broker is looking to establish a co-operative type structure to provide funds for wrap mortgages.

Elders says it gets no loyalty from customers who take out three year rates so has dropped it althogether.

A Palmerston North-based financial adviser has pleaded guilty to 21 counts of fraud in a prosecution brought by the Serious Fraud Office.

Deposit Power Guarantees, which provides an alternative to paying a cash deposit on a house, is about to crank up its marketing efforts in New Zealand.

Williams & Kettle shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of splitting the company's 31.9% stake in the unlisted New Zealand Rural Property Trust (NZRPT) and the trust's management contract into a separate unlisted company Rural Equities (REL).

While the housing market remains strong and house prices should rise a bit further, the latest immigration numbers suggest now is the time to bail out, according to Bank of New Zealand chief economist Tony Alexander.

Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard says that he would be prepared to raise interest rates to prevent a housing price bubble but says that would only happen in rare circumstances.

State-owned Kiwibank has raised its floating rate 20 basis points, even though wholesale interest rates have been almost static since before Christmas.

ASB Bank's latest housing confidence survey throws up some contrary findings.

Mortgage Link New Zealand founder Roger Poulter has sold his 34% stake in the company to its licenced brokers and staff and some new licensees.

Asteron, formerly Royal & SunAlliance Financial Services and a subsidiary of listed insurance company Promina, is planning to enter the mortgage lending market early in the second quarter of this year.