ANZ says the New Zealand property market is finely balanced, although there are still more factors putting upwards pressure on house prices than likely to push prices down. 20-07-2012 more >>
Low interest rates aren’t just helping property prices – they are lining the pockets of the country’s plumbers, builders and electricians, according to the ANZ Business Microscope survey of small businesses. 19-07-2012 more >>
Debate over the Government’s accommodation supplement is heating up. Labour’s housing spokeswoman Annette King says the supplement artificially props up rents and has suggested the money - which she terms a $1.2 billion subsidy for landlords – could be better spent building more houses. 18-07-2012 more >>
Politicians claiming the accommodation supplement is lining the pockets of landlords seem to have forgotten one key point: There is a massive property shortage in New Zealand, and in Auckland in particular. 18-07-2012 more >>
Westpac’s economists say low rates of housing-related inflation in the June quarter of this year are likely to keep the official cash rate low for the foreseeable future. 18-07-2012 more >>
"THEY ARE snake oil, complete with white shoes and wagons :-)". That's what self-styled New Zealand property guru Dean Letfus wrote in March last year on Propertytalk.co.nz, when describing the US tax lien investments being promoted by rival Phil Jones. 18-07-2012 more >>
Changes to the Unit Titles Act haven’t had the consequences that were expected, says Denise Marsden, partner at legal firm Alexander Dorrington. 17-07-2012 more >>
Property investors who hire unlicensed practitioners to carry out renovation work on their properties could be putting themselves in danger. 17-07-2012 more >>
Government help for commercial property owners needing to do earthquake-strengthening work should be taxation-based, says Auckland Property Investors Association president David Whitburn. 16-07-2012 more >>
Some of the 8000 Christchurch homeowners forced out of their houses by last year’s earthquake could save themselves $50,000 each on the cost of a section if they pooled their resources, says Geoff Butcher, of Co-Operative Sections. 13-07-2012 more >>
Property seminar provider Steve Goodey has won a $396,000 High Court judgement against fellow property guru Phil Jones of Richmastery fame but he may have difficulty collecting. 13-07-2012 more >>
Disclosure rules for people selling properties with defective cladding are not tight enough, says Auckland Property Investors Association president David Whitburn. 12-07-2012 more >>
More potential house buyers are attending open homes and real estate agents rate it a sellers' market, according to the Bank of New Zealand's latest survey of more than 10,000 agents. 12-07-2012 more >>
Landlords’ concerns about the timeliness of the formal tenancy dispute resolution process through the Department of Building and Housing and the Tenancy Tribunal are being heard, Housing Minister Phil Heatley says. 11-07-2012 more >>
House prices are likely to rise further all year but the strength will only last until mortgage rates start rising, according to Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens. 11-07-2012 more >>
The housing market is buzzing, if not quite on fire. But it's the Auckland and quake-affected Christchurch markets which are to blame while markets in the rest of the country remain subdued. 10-07-2012 more >>
Hundreds of commercial landlords and their tenants in Christchurch have been forced to reach for their dictionaries since the city’s earthquakes. 09-07-2012 more >>
Christchurch’s rental market is soaring ahead of the rest of the country, according to Trade Me Property’s analysis for the April to June quarter. 06-07-2012 more >>
Owners of un-reinforced masonry commercial buildings in Southland have been issue with land information memorandum (LIM) notices identifying their buildings as earthquake-prone. 05-07-2012 more >>
Housing Minister Phil Heatley says landlords should notice an improvement in the tenancy resolution services offered now that the Department of Building and Housing has been absorbed into the new super ministry. 05-07-2012 more >>
Labour’s Housing spokeswoman Annette King is working through Treasury reports relating to policy work on the accommodation supplement. 04-07-2012 more >>