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In this case study, we sat down with residential housing developer David Duggan to chat about his journey bringing an innovative new leasehold development to life on the shores of Lake Taupō, and how partnering with Squirrel made it happen.

The recent migration boom and rising construction costs have contributed to the growth in house prices — but what are the other factors causing them to rise, and how long will prices continue to increase?

New Zealand has narrowly escaped the technical recession that was called a few months back — but Kiwi households are still feeling the pressure from high interest rates. So with an Official Cash Rate (OCR) announcement on the cards for 4th October, what’s likely to happen with mortgage rates from here?

Seasonally adjusted data shows that house sales have risen again by around 8% in the past three months, and this has been led by Auckland, along with Wellington and Christchurch. But sales isn't the only thing that's grown — the recent immigration boom has added extra pressure to Auckland's housing stock. Will falling new-house construction in a time of strong population growth result in property shortages in 2024?

Lenders will usually require you to front up with a deposit of 20% of the purchase price for an existing property – 10% if it’s a new build – before they’ll consider giving you a mortgage on it. If you’ve been saving hard only to have your deposit goal feel like it’s getting further out of reach – or you just don’t want to have to wait years and years (and years) to get into your first home – there are options out there.

Sticking to the path it laid out for us in July, the RBNZ has opted to hold the OCR steady at 5.50% - and they're saying it might be 2025 before rates start to come down again. But global uncertainties, deflationary forces in China and the upcoming election has everyone holding their breath.

Bank margins in New Zealand are at record levels right now – higher than they’ve been in about 10 years. So why are headlines painting the image that bank margins are worryingly low?

The coming weakness in our economy would imply at a minimum no recovery in the housing market and maybe a continuation of the weakness since late-2021. But there are many other factors in play — so will the recently developed upward momentum continue into 2024?

To say that the track for inflation and therefore interest rates going forward is relatively unclear would be an understatement. The rises in bank borrowing costs here have prompted banks to raise their fixed mortgage rates another 0.25% or so in the past couple of months despite no new rise in the official cash rate. So what will happen to mortgage interest rates, and are we headed into uncertain territory?

Word on the street is that house prices have finally hit "sustainable" levels, after 18 months of significant falls. But are they really "about right"? Chief Squirrel, David Cunningham, digs into the data to tell us whether house prices really are where they need to be.

With a falling number of listings, booming immigration and an end to rising mortgage interest rates, is FOMO starting to creep back into the New Zealand housing market?

The Reserve Bank have said that 5.50% is still as high as they think they will need to take the cash rate. So does that mean the housing market now suddenly picks up strongly straight away? Or will it sit flat for perhaps three years as a lot of people optimistically believe?