Why NZ won't follow Australian property downturn
With house prices now falling significantly in Australia, the inevitable question is beginning to arise: “will the downturn spread across to NZ?” We’re not convinced that it will, for three main reasons.
• First, NZ does not generally have an oversupply of property of any type or in any region. Indeed, our largest city of Auckland has the opposite problem: a large shortfall of housing, which is propping up values even though property is relatively unaffordable in our biggest city. By contrast, it is widely accepted that there are too many apartments in Sydney and Melbourne, and this is dragging down prices. So-called settlement risk (where a buyer who purchased off the plans some time earlier suddenly walks away from the transaction) is a growing problem for some of these large-scale developments.
• Second, NZ is yet to see the same increases to mortgage rates that other countries are seeing, including Australia. In fact, although there are now signs that it might be ending, the banks here have recently engaged in a “rate war” with borrowers enjoying some pretty sharp fixed-rate deals in recent weeks. On a related point, about 80% of mortgage debt is on fixed interest rates in NZ, giving borrowers time to adjust their finances in advance of an interest rate increase being pushed through to their mortgage. That is in stark contrast to Australia, where floating rates dominate.
• Third, NZ’s regulators have arguably been much more proactive than Australia’s in curbing the riskiest lending practices. Interest-only lending is more controlled in NZ, and it’s also easy to forget that we’ve actually had the LVR restrictions (in one form or another) here for five years now. This has put our mortgage market on a surer footing than Australia To be fair, none of this precludes a housing market downturn here in NZ at some stage in the future. But for now, and with the labour market a huge support for property, we’re confident that Australia’s problems won’t be replicated in New Zealand for the foreseeable future.
Article by Kelvin Davidson
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.2% Summer
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36.3% Winter
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1.5% Other - I'll share below
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
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