Why NZ won't follow Australian property downturn
With house prices now falling significantly in Australia, the inevitable question is beginning to arise: “will the downturn spread across to NZ?” We’re not convinced that it will, for three main reasons.
• First, NZ does not generally have an oversupply of property of any type or in any region. Indeed, our largest city of Auckland has the opposite problem: a large shortfall of housing, which is propping up values even though property is relatively unaffordable in our biggest city. By contrast, it is widely accepted that there are too many apartments in Sydney and Melbourne, and this is dragging down prices. So-called settlement risk (where a buyer who purchased off the plans some time earlier suddenly walks away from the transaction) is a growing problem for some of these large-scale developments.
• Second, NZ is yet to see the same increases to mortgage rates that other countries are seeing, including Australia. In fact, although there are now signs that it might be ending, the banks here have recently engaged in a “rate war” with borrowers enjoying some pretty sharp fixed-rate deals in recent weeks. On a related point, about 80% of mortgage debt is on fixed interest rates in NZ, giving borrowers time to adjust their finances in advance of an interest rate increase being pushed through to their mortgage. That is in stark contrast to Australia, where floating rates dominate.
• Third, NZ’s regulators have arguably been much more proactive than Australia’s in curbing the riskiest lending practices. Interest-only lending is more controlled in NZ, and it’s also easy to forget that we’ve actually had the LVR restrictions (in one form or another) here for five years now. This has put our mortgage market on a surer footing than Australia To be fair, none of this precludes a housing market downturn here in NZ at some stage in the future. But for now, and with the labour market a huge support for property, we’re confident that Australia’s problems won’t be replicated in New Zealand for the foreseeable future.
Article by Kelvin Davidson
Poll: Have you ever had a scary flight?
A plane flying from Christchurch to Wellington on Sunday had smoke billowing out of the engine and upon landing, passengers had to open the emergency exit and jump out. Have you had any scary flying experiences?
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56.5% Yes!
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43.5% No, it's always been smooth flying
ALEXANDER ROAD SPEED LIMIT
Alexander Road in Trentham-Wallaceville of which 50% separates a golf course from a military encampment enclosure and the rest has mostly high fenced off industrial and residential areas on both sides, should have a 70km speed restriction.
Only a short time ago the road had a 80km restriction and was reduced to a pedestrian 50km much to the frustration of many. It has never been an accident prone stretch of road.
The several round-abouts ensure speed is reduced to 30-40km when these things occur.
I recently stayed a few days in Feilding - often given the title of the best town in NZ - and one of the lengthy main streets has a 70km speed restriction despite a predominance of unfenced residential properties on both sides.
LIVE Q&A: Financial well-being with Cat Rikihana
Today (Wednesday) we're having another Neighbourly Q&A session. This time with Cat Rikihana who is a financial mentor, educator and financial capability practitioner at Financial Freedom Trust in the Manawatū.
Cat Rikihana (Ngai Tahu) like many financial mentors around Aotearoa, works with individuals, groups and whānau to successfully navigate financial stress and hardship. Mentors work alongside whānau to increase confidence and skills in personal money management and advocate with and for clients. Cat enjoys delivering online and face-to-face workshops which provide opportunities to normalise money conversations and encourages people to make time to consider their financial well-being.
Cat is also an independent financial well-being coach, educator and indigenous life coach at Restore Wellness Network. She is a published writer and currently in the process of writing her first non-fiction book: 'A financial self-care guide for women in Aotearoa.'
She'd love to answer any questions you may have around your budgeting and spending habits, strategies for saving, retirement planning and debt. (Don't be shy, but be mindful about what you disclose!)
↓ Share your questions now and Cat will reply to your comment below ↓
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