Existing economic pain will ultimately be good news for mortgage borrowers, says Squirrel Mortgages founder John Bolton.

Despite the Finance & Mortgage Advisers Association NZ (FAMNZ) setting up in Auckland in early February, it won’t be taking membership applications until next month.

Mortgage adviser Jeff Royle’s sounding-off about the Commerce Commission dropping a “bombshell” on the industry has got its attention.

“Reinstatement of interest deductibility starting from the new tax year on 1 April brings property investors back in line with every other business in the country, where interest costs are a legitimate deductible expense," Tim Horsbrugh, New Zealand Property Investors Federation (NZPIF) executive committee member says.

Most Kiwis think interest rate increases have peaked.

Economists will be keeping their eyes on today’s release of the RBNZ’s survey of inflation expectations as financial markets price in an OCR rise either this month or April.

Fears by the main trading banks about losing customers to non-bank lenders if DTIs are introduced are rubbish, says John Bolton, Squirrel Mortgages’  founder.

The Reserve Bank doesn't expect its proposed DTI restrictions to have a significant impact on house prices in the short-term.

Open banking can’t come soon enough for mortgage adviser, said AdviceHQ director David Green.

ANZ expects the RBNZ to start cutting the OCR in August.

As experts expect property prices to rise between 5-10% this year, the biggest dampener will be debt-to-income (DTI) ratios if introduced towards the middle of the year.

A steer on the state of the economy and the start of OCR cuts could be on the cards for Reserve Bank chief economist Paul Conway’s speech on Tuesday 30 January.

The ASB Bank has outlined five key risks making 2024 as unpredictable and volatile as last year, with plenty of twists and turns to come.

One of the main challenges facing small and medium FAPs in New Zealand is adapting to the changing regulatory compliance requirements.

The ASB says overall household debt servicing costs have yet to peak.

iLender business owner Jeff Royle says mortgage stress, defined as mortgage payments more than three months in arrears, is rising.