It's tough going out there at the moment, and we're all feeling it in one way or another. The housing market is subdued, and NZ economic data is painting a pretty bleak picture. So the question on everyone's minds is: when will interest rates start to fall again?
New Zealand economic data has painted a pretty sorry picture in recent months. But bad news for the economy will eventually be good news for Kiwi mortgage borrowers when it comes to the future of interest rates.
The Reserve Bank recently asked for feedback on a new set of lending restrictions - DTIs - it's looking to introduce later this year. Here's what the team at Squirrel had to say as part of our submission.
Over the life of your mortgage, you'll fork out at tens - probably hundreds - of thousands in interest payments. But there are tricks to help you get your home loan paid off faster, and save a packet.
The Reserve Bank is giving nothing away ahead of its first Official Cash Rate announcement of the year, in late February, but the market is increasingly anticipating rate falls to start sometime this year.
"Buy anything and wait" has been all the strategy you needed to make money in property over the last few decades. But as the world enters an extended period of low growth, doing well as a property investor will require a more active approach.
Until recently, falling interest rates meant that no matter what you were investing in you almost couldn't go wrong... Asset prices across the board just kept going up. But those lucrative days are behind us.
This article is a cautionary tale for anyone feeling tempted by the recent fall in long-term mortgage rates: fixing long-term can come with some wicked hidden costs.
As Kiwis grapple with the challenges of cutting costs and re-jigging finances to try and meet growing mortgage costs, here are a few tips to consider to help you prepare for (and survive) higher interest rates.
We're fast headed towards the last OCR announcement of the year, and it's going to be a big one. In his latest market update, JB shares his expectations on where interest rates could get to, and a bit of an update on the housing market more broadly.
Ballooning costs and tougher servicing requirements are causing a lot of headaches for property investors these days, and planning ahead has never been more important.
There's not much cause for optimism out there among global economy headlines at the moment - but the outlook for New Zealand isn't all bad.