OCR assumptions don’t add up
Economist Tony Alexander doesn’t believe the RBNZ will keep the OCR at 5.50% or higher through to the middle of 2025, even though the central bank is forecasting a possible further hike next year.
Economist Tony Alexander doesn’t believe the RBNZ will keep the OCR at 5.50% or higher through to the middle of 2025, even though the central bank is forecasting a possible further hike next year.
Those bearing the brunt of rising mortgage rates can blame the impact of record net immigration for interest rates remaining high into 2025 before they're likely to see any relief.
The Reserve Bank left its official cash rate (OCR) unchanged at 5.5% and said “ a prolonged period of subdued activity is required to reduce inflationary pressure.”
The Reserve Bank has held the official cash rate at 5.50% but warns it could rise.
If ever there was a law designed to do good but in need of a rewrite, it is the CCCFA.
ASB Bank's decision to concentrate on profit margins is coming at the obvious cost of market share – in the September quarter, its mortgage book shrank by $152.2 million, according to the Reserve Bank's bank financial strength dashboard.
Nobody is expecting the Reserve Bank to do anything when it releases its latest monetary policy statement and economic forecasts next Wednesday but there's a debate raging about when it will start cutting interest rates.
Westpac is the first bank to cut home loan rates, lowering its two-year rate.
Payments NZ is bidding for its API Centre to be at the centre of not just open banking but of data sharing in other industries such as energy and telecommunications.
Financial markets are pricing in an aggressive easing of almost three OCR cuts next year – a quantum leap from the RBNZ’s previous forecasts of no cut until the first quarter of 2025.
As the Reserve Bank gears up to start public consultation at the beginning of near year on debt-to-income (DTI) levels, its latest quarterly DTI figures show In September, $1.6 billion, or 31.1% of $5.2 billion of new mortgage lending was at a DTI of 5.
ANZ is still committed to offer loans through its branches although nearly two-thirds of its lending was originated by mortgage adviser channel in the most recent financial year.
Mortgage advisers are becoming increasingly dominant in originating home loans as the annual results of the country's largest bank, ANZ Bank New Zealand, demonstrate.
New research shows seventy per cent of bank and non-bank lenders prefer funding industrial developments above all other property assets.
In an effort to attract independent mortgage advisers to its aggregation platform and other services, The Adviser Platform (TAP) is offering a 50% discount for six months.
Only about 50 of Kiwibank's home loan customers were financially stressed enough to have needed intensive help to work through the impact of rising mortgage interest rates, chief executive Steve Jurkovich told an NZX webinar.
The amount of loans mortgage advisers are bringing to Bank of New Zealand continues to rise sharply, although they contributed slightly less to new lending in the six months ended September than they did in the six months ended March.
Financial Advice NZ chief executive Katrina Shanks questions whether there is room for another adviser association in New Zealand.
Lifting the number of mortgages written by independent advisers will be a top priority for the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA) when it sets up a New Zealand office in February under a new brand.
Westpac New Zealand says it won't comment on the National Party's pre-election promise to scrap the Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Act (CoFI) but says that principles-based legislation is “a good thing.”