With the Christmas cards piling up on the mantelpiece, it's time for a whiz through the millennium year plus a quick look ahead.

The Reserve Bank left the Official Cash Rate unchanged at 6.5 per cent at this morning\'s review.

Hold on to your hats as BankDirect kicks off an online mortgage tender, with $3 million worth of loans going to the highest bidders.

Waltus investors objecting to the company's merger plans were bitterly disappointed when the Court of Appeal dismissed their appeal yesterday, and they're saying that this raises serious questions about the rights of minority shareholders.

What the pundits think ahead of the next interest rate review this Wednesday.

Hard on the heels of its Rate Breaker loan, Wizard has launched a fee-free "switchover" product at 7.99 per cent floating.

Yes, there is a reward for being oversized: a new mortgage product called Jumbo.

The top's probably not far off, but expect to see some further increases in interest rates.

There is a glimmer of hope for the housing market, with confidence lifting in all regions for the first time since January 1999.

Visitors to the E-Loan New Zealand website can now compare and apply for credit cards as well as home loans.

Waltus investors railing against the company\'s merger plans have failed to stay proceedings until their Court of Appeal hearing December 4.

The estimated net worth of Kiwi households is down $0.7 billion, or 0.3 per cent, over the last quarter thanks to falling house prices and rising debt.

With the risk increasing that the Reserve Bank will increase rates in a fortnight, it's looking like a good time to lock into a cheap mortgage deal.

A group of dissenting shareholders hasn't given up hope of affecting the merger of several Waltus property syndicates into one company and is taking the matter to the Court of Appeal.

Online mortgage broker E-Loan is trying to put a rocket under the home loan market by offering conditional loan approvals within 30 minutes.