News

Houses tipped to keep rising
2015-08-14

Expectations of higher prices hit record.Expectations of rising house prices have hit a record high in ASB's quarterly survey of housing market confidence, a net 65 per cent of respondents expecting them to rise over the next year.In Auckland the figure is a net 71 per cent, also a record in the survey's 19-year history.
 
"The Auckland housing market remains very supply constrained at a time when demand is very high," said ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley."However, expectations of higher Auckland prices did ease off towards the end of the quarter. We may be seeing the first signs of respondents taking into account the likely impacts of the new...

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Personal finance: Life insurance for children
2015-08-12

Life Insurance
Children don't really need life insurance.They don't die very often, and unlike most grown-ups they don't leave dependents behind, or mortgages.In 2014, Statistics New Zealand recorded 119 deaths of children aged between one and 14.Every child's death is a tragedy, but as few are successful child actors or models, families do not suffer sudden losses of income as a result.
But there is some demand for life cover for children, and between ages 10 and 16, most insurers will provide cover of up to $50,000 although it is possible to go higher.Insurance for children is not sold direct to the public.Even direct-to-the public funeral insurers have a...

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Mortgage rates down after OCR cut
2015-08-07

Mortgage rates have begun to fall in response to the Reserve Bank's decision to cut the Official Cash Rate.The central bank this morning lowered the benchmark interest rate from 3.25 percent to 3 percent and signalled further cuts were likely.
 
The country's biggest bank, ANZ Bank, will cut its floating rate from 6.39 percent to 6.24 percent from next Monday.Kiwibank cut its floating rate from 6.4 percent to 6.15 percent effective immediately for new borrowers, and in two weeks' time for existing customers.The BNZ has dropped the rate on its floating home loan product from 6.34 percent to 5.99 percent, from Monday.
 
The Co-operative Bank...

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