The Reserve Bank is still talking about low inflation and the potential for the OCR to decrease further, so how is it that in this environment mortgage rates can go up?
Everybody talks about the housing situation in Auckland as if it is the only one in the country, but New Zealand property has far more to it than just the City of Sails, but what about the regional property market?
Typical of our tabloid media we get the usual fear driven headlines designed to sell papers.
The Global Financial Crisis in 2008 was centred on the world having too much debt and yet today there is even more debt and more inequality.
In recent weeks the banks have tightened up their credit policies and specifically rules around non-residents being able to borrow. The changes came out of nowhere, but in reality the issue that banks have been forced to deal with has been brewing for some time.
Think about the first night you spent at your current property. Dark, unfamiliar, perhaps even anxiety-inducing. It's perfectly normal to feel this way.
It isn’t always easy to release equity when selling property. Leverage combined with lack of cash flow is the biggest risk for investors and it materialises quickly.
So much stimulus, and yet no growth and negligible inflation. Lowering interest rates to entice people to borrow and spend is not a sustainable strategy.
After nearly five years here at Squirrel, mortgage adviser Lindsay Hill has a lot of experience getting people to where they need to be in the property market.
Some thoughts on the Unitary Plan: Auckland is a unique city surrounded by so much water and then so much of the inner city has been protected from a planning perspective.
Here I am almost three and a half years into my first decent size property development. Although the end is in sight, it has been painfully slow, like watching paint dry.
The Auckland housing market has predictably heated up again this year off the back of strong immigration, low interest rates, and rampant speculation.