Property round-up (26 Apr 2010)
Auckland sales prices have jumped, which research company Crockers finds unusual considering the lack of sales numbers, plus IRD is looking at what it constitutes as a mortgagee sale in relation to collecting GST.
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IRD shifts approach on GST applied to land (23 Apr 2010)
Inland Revenue has signalled a further shift in its approach on GST when applied to land sales.
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Rents set to rise as demand increases (22 Apr 2010)
Rent levels look set to rise, as pressure builds due to declining properties available and increasing demand.
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Website stats point to rise in renters (17 Apr 2010)
Rents may be flat at present but not for much longer, if the latest figures from Trade Me Property are anything to go by.
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REINZ residential highlights – March 2010 (16 Apr 2010)
Sales have lifted throughout the country, but the market remains weighted in favour of buyers. Find out what's happening in the main regions throughout the country.
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House sales still in soft patch (16 Apr 2010)
House sales are still in a "soft patch" as the usual strong month of March edged up from February, according to the latest Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) figures.
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Think about fixing at a two-year rate soon (16 Apr 2010)
Borrowers could think opportunistically about hopping into, at the longest, a two-year rate in the next two or three months just ahead of the Reserve Bank tightening monetary policy, says BNZ economist Tony Alexander.
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Complaints to REAA pouring in (14 Apr 2010)
The new Real Estate Agents Authority (REAA) has already received over 320 complaints in its first five months of operation.
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Income tax cuts admirable, but let's look again at winners and losers (12 Apr 2010)
If income tax rates are to fall, then someone has to pay for it. We will all contribute through higher GST, which is fair. And many think it is fair for tenants and rental property owners to make up the shortfall. The main reasons suggested are that property investors have a tax advantage and that they take money out of the tax system. It is understandable why people may feel that increasing rental property tax is reasonable, but have we been told all the facts and the ramifications of these tax changes?
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Property round-up (12 Apr 2010)
Take-up of the government's insulation scheme has been hot throughout the summer months, HSBC has substantially dropped its home loan rates and now has the lowest rates on offer, plus a national real estate company has seen sales rise 30% over the past month.
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QV regional snapshot - March 2010 (12 Apr 2010)
The residential property market has been changing dramatically over the past few months. Find out what has been happening in the main urban areas in March.
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Property market to stay flat while uncertainties remain (12 Apr 2010)
New Zealand property values will probably stay flat until all of the uncertainties weighing on home owners are cleared up, according to QV Valuations.
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North Shore suburbs booming (12 Apr 2010)
Investors in North Shore property over the last year will be pleased to see the QV statistics for the past 12 months which reveal that house values jumped by around 20%.
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Auckland central: Money in metropolis (08 Apr 2010)
After a tumultuous few years, the Auckland central business district apartment market is finally regaining lost ground. Vicki Holder explores the concrete jungle for investment potential.
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Auckland house sales pick up in March (07 Apr 2010)
House sales in Auckland picked up last month after early signs that the property market was running out of steam, according to Barfoot & Thompson.
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Two Gold medals at Royal Easter Show for Conference sponsor Hunter's Wines (06 Apr 2010)
Hunter's Wines Ltd has been award two gold medals at the 2010 Royal Easter Show. The medals were awarded to Hunter's Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008 and Hunter's MiruMiru Non Vintage.
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Treasury says tax system out of kilter (06 Apr 2010)
The New Zealand tax system is unfair and creates the wrong incentives for investment, particularly in the property sector, says Treasury Secretary John Whitehead.
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Conference sponsor Mahi Wines well reviewed (06 Apr 2010)
2008 Mahi The Alias Sauvignon Blanc reviewed in March 2010 by Jane Skilton of the Independent Wine Monthly and by Chairman Smith of the Otago Daily Times.
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Lifestyle outperforms residential (01 Apr 2010)
New Zealand's lifestyle property market is becoming more closely linked to residential real estate moving away from the traditional association with rural land according to Bayleys.
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Building consents rise, while apartment approvals drop to 1995 lows (30 Mar 2010)
New Zealand’s residential-building consents rose 5.9% to 1,375 units in February from the previous month, in a month characterised by the weakest number of apartments authorised since July 1995.
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Confidence in housing market slipping (30 Mar 2010)
The government's pre-budget tax announcements have had a dramatic impact on confidence in investing in the housing market, according to the latest RaboPlus Financial Confidence Index. Confidence levels have slumped a massive 31%, from -16% in August/September 2009 to -47% in February/March 2010.
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NZ Treasury pours cold water on leaky home GST relief (29 Mar 2010)
The New Zealand Treasury today poured cold water on the hopes of additional financial relief for owners' of leaky homes, saying government would not receive a GST windfall to provide additional funds for these repairs.
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Too soon to declare easing of mortgagee sales (29 Mar 2010)
The number of mortgagee sales was down in January, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the numbers will continue to fall this year.
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RBNZ expects to catch more borrowers when it hikes OCR (26 Mar 2010)
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand expects to capture more mortgage borrowers than it has in the past when it starts hiking interest rates in the middle of the year.
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Government misled over property taxes (24 Mar 2010)
A growing amount of evidence is emerging that the Government has been mislead by the Tax Working Group (TWG) over the merits of increasing the taxation for rental property.
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Tax rate on some high income earners less than 10%: English (23 Mar 2010)
Finance minister Bill English has again taken aim at property investors who offset their tax by using losses in leveraged property.
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House prices face downwards pressure (23 Mar 2010)
House prices are facing downwards pressure as the property market "rolls to a halt" according to ANZ's 10 property gauges.
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12 lenders cut fixed rates (19 Mar 2010)
Economists have been expecting a rise in fixed mortgage rates, however lenders have thrown in a curve ball this week with 12lenders making cuts.
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Tax Working Group got it wrong (18 Mar 2010)
The Government has said the Tax Working Group's (TWG) predictions on how much revenue could potentially be collected from tax on the property investment sector was too radical.
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Growth stalling, says property indicator (18 Mar 2010)
Growth in the property market is petering off, with the Mike Pero Mortgages/Infometrics Property Cycle Indicator (PCI) falling to its lowest level in 18 months.
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Game of two halves (17 Mar 2010)
The housing market appears to be a game of two halves, with some areas seeing substantially more sales activity than others.
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REINZ residential highlights - February 2010 (12 Mar 2010)
Our regular monthly round up for New Zealand.
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Steam still coming out of house sales (12 Mar 2010)
Total residential house sales rose sharply in February, compared with a 10 year low-point in January, but seasonally adjusted prices fell and it is taking longer to sell homes as tax-shy investors stay out of the market.
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Bollard's predictions on interest rates welcome (11 Mar 2010)
Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard kept the official cash rate unchanged at 2.5%, as expected, and reiterated a mid-year start to rate hikes, saying the subdued pace of recovery will restrain inflation.
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Whangarei: City of 100 opportunities (09 Mar 2010)
Jacqui Sorenson knew exactly what to look for when she bought an investment property in Whangarei earlier this year. That's because she's a property manager at Whangarei Real Estate (Just Rentals Northland) and knew what the city's tenants want.
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QV regional snapshot - February 2010 (08 Mar 2010)
Property values in February are above the same time last year, with the main urban areas performing well.
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Values growing at slower pace (08 Mar 2010)
House values rose 5.5% in the year through February, though the speed of growth is beginning to slow down, according to QV Valuations.
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Auckland rental shortage under debate (08 Mar 2010)
Rents look set to rise in Auckland as the rental pool drains somewhat, but the extent and reasons behind the drop are under debate.
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Awarding winning NZ Investment Game offered again at special price (05 Mar 2010)
This game invented by Frank Newman has been receiving a great deal of praise since being launched last year. It will be on display at the 2010 NZPIF Conference but you can buy it now.
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Bargains galore but not much action (04 Mar 2010)
The property investment market has largely ground to a halt, despite ample bargains currently available.
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Listings hit 11-month high in Auckland (03 Mar 2010)
Listings in Auckland reached an 11-month high in February and the average sales price reached a historical high for the month, according to Barfoot & Thompson.
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Building consents fall for second month (26 Feb 2010)
New Zealand home building consents fell for a second month in January, suggesting the nation's economic recovery is still fragile as property owners fret about tax changes and the potential for higher interest rates.
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Housing minister resigns (25 Feb 2010)
Housing and Fisheries Minister Phil Heatley has resigned his portfolios as a result of further discrepancies over his ministerial credit card spending.
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Housing confidence still upbeat (23 Feb 2010)
New Zealand housing confidence is still upbeat even if it's somewhat tarnished, according to ASB economists.
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Numbers on the up, says Harcourts (23 Feb 2010)
Sales numbers are predicted to improve over the next two months, says Harcourts' chief executive Bryan Thomson.
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Steadying of housing market dropping off (22 Feb 2010)
The steadying of the housing market has dropped off and is now at its "least convincing" since June last year, according to the Mike Pero Mortgages/Infometrics Property Cycle Indicator.
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House prices set to fall in cooling market: ANZ (19 Feb 2010)
The direction for house prices is down in what is a cooling market, according to ANZ's 10 property gauges.
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Trade Me sees record property browsers (19 Feb 2010)
Trade Me Property saw a record number of unique browsers and enquiries about properties in January despite sales being at a two-decade low.
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Relief in property circles as most tax options ruled out (18 Feb 2010)
The vice-president of the Property Investors Federation is relieved that most housing tax options were ruled out in Prime Minister John Key's speech yesterday, but he is wary of what is to come.
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Low number of bad loans make it to mortgagee sale (16 Feb 2010)
Mortgagee sales figures tend to hog the headlines but only a small percentage of loans gone bad ever get to that stage.
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