Home Loan Report:
After a period of strong rises in home loan rates they are now starting to ease back, and by reasonably significant margins. By Philip Macalister

The trend started at the end of last with ASB Bank and its two related companies easing their mid-term fixed rates. They have been joined today by Bank of New Zealand which has lowered all its fixed rates, and some s

Treasury has released the results of an analysis of ownership and investment in housing based on the Household Savings Survey (HSS) conducted by Statistics New Zealand in 2001.The paper’s findings on New Zealanders’ assets and liabilities suggest rates of home ownership, property investment and housing debt levels in New Zealand are broadly comparable with those in Australia and the United States,

Auckland-based property development and management company Prime Retail Management has taken over management of Dunedin shopping centre, Meridian Mall. Owned by ING NZ Retail Fund - a subsidiary of ING Retail Property Fund Australia - the Meridian was formerly managed by Savills. Located in Dunedin’s CBD, the Meridian is a multi-level shopping centre comprising 48 specialty stores, anchored by

The National Business Review Rich List 2006 published this month reveals property has been a major wealth-builder this year.Over 40 Rich List entrants made their fortunes in property development and most recorded increases in wealth over the past 12 months.

Wellington CBD offices returned to the top spot in the Property Council of New Zealand's (PINZ) Investment Performance Index survey this quarter, reaching a new all time high total return of 24.98%, up from 21.01% in March 2005. This was driven by a significant increase in capital return over the last 12 months, from 9.39% in March 2005 to 14.53% in March 2006.

New and growing areas of specialisation identified in a University of Auckland study include subsets of property professionals such as property developers, property managers and property maintenance people. 'Jack-of-all-trades' builders are becoming a dying breed as the New Zealand building industry becomes more reliant on specialisation, according to research by University of Auckland Masters student Yadeed Lobo.

The property institutes of New Zealand and Australia this month announced they have signed a formal strategic alliance. The agreement commits the two institutes to align their professional standards and services, and to provide a common professional development programme to broaden members' expertise.

Weekly Home Loan report: This week’s inflation numbers have kicked off a new round home loan rate rises.By Philip Macalister

The consumer price index (CPI) numbers showed that inflation was running at 4%, well outside the Reserve Bank’s mandated 1-3% range. The most basic upshot of this announcement is that the official cash rate isn’t likely to be cut any time soon.

In fact th

QV’s residential property statistics released today indicate that nationally, property values increased by 11.5% (calculated over the three months ending June 2006 in comparison to the same period last year). This is down from the 12.4% growth reported in May, and down from 16.8% growth reported in January. The average New Zealand sale price was $328,829 for this period.“New Zealand’s residential property market continues to cool with the growth rate decreasing for the fifth consecutive month. The 11.5% growth rate is still well above historic levels with many centres still recording growth rates in excess of 20%” said QV spokesperson Blue Hancock.

Annual house price inflation abated for a fifth month in a row, although it is still in double digits, according to Quotable Value's figures.

A listings shortage is developing in the Auckland property market so it’s a good time for property owners to consider listing their property for sale, according to leading Auckland real estate company, Barfoot & Thompson. Barfoot & Thompson, which accounts for about a third of the Auckland residential property market, says available listings at the end of June were at the lowest level so far this year. 4,683 properties were listed on the company’s books at the close of the month compared with over 5,400 during the previous six months.

The ideal accompaniment to a property management business.

The ideal accompaniment to a property management business.

Weekly Home Loan report: The message on home loan rates is still the same - there won't be any falls for sometime now.Since our previous home loan report the likelihood of more rises, not cuts has emerged.

A group of new services have been rolled out by The Department of Building and Housing, Tenancy Services designed to make things easier for landlords and tenants.Amongst the changes are a new tenancy form, restructuring some of the regional offices and the launch of a telephone mediation service.

The residential property market proved particularly resilient in May with the number of sales up and the national median selling price reached $305,500, compared with $305,000 last month according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (Inc).The latest residential market report for May shows the number of sales nationwide up for the month to 9,642 from the 7,576 sales in April and higher than the number of May 2005 sales of 9,249.