Bought a house in recent months? If not, take note that you can now be penalised for "last minute settlements".

The Consumer's Institute says you can save thousands of dollars on your mortgage, "but getting seduced by the ads and lurching from one great deal to the next is not how it's don
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Floating mortgage rates rose an average of 50 percentage points over the 30 days to April 10, with most lenders' rate now at 8.10 per cent.

While the national median for residential rents has remained the same over the past couple of years, different regions have experienced different fortunes.

Online property advertising firm RealENZ is teaming up with Realestate.com.au to set up the first Australasian real estate directory on the Internet.

E-Loan, an online mortgage broking service launched in the US four years ago, will be available to New Zealand borrowers in a few months' time.

Recent changes in mortgage rates mean we could be heading towards a negative yield curve again, possibly by the end of the year.

ASB Bank has just joined the other trading banks by boosting its floating mortgage rate from 7.60 per cent to 8.10 per cent.

Wizard Financial Services, Australia's second-largest non-bank lender, plans to open its first two offices here in May.

Floating mortgage rates have breached eight per cent again, with the BNZ increasing its rate from 7.6 per cent to 8.1 per cent today.

A reported pick-up in the Auckland residential property market has been confirmed by figures for February, while the national median house price is also higher.

A relaunch of Flexiloan is already reaping results for financial services company Equitable.

The Reserve Bank increased the OCR this morning by 50 points to 5.75 per cent in a widely anticipated move.

There's a lot more room in the market for no-frills mortgage products, according to one lender.

Next Wednesday's OCR review by the Reserve Bank, which is widely expected to increase the rate, is likely to drive short-term mortgage rates up still further. Meanwhile, longer-term rates are on the wane.

Confidence in residential housing is down, but ASB Bank Economist Rozanna Wozniak thinks it's an over-reaction.