house prices

Do we have decent competition in the mortgage market here? Are the banks as ready to sharpen their pencil as they across the Tasman? Looking at the numbers, you might wonder if we’re being taken for a bit of ride. New Zealand’s banking base rate – the official cash rate – is 1.75% and until recently was 2%. Australia’s is 1.5%. So yes, you might expect the mortgage rates in Australia to be a little bit better than New Zealand.…

Imagine, in this uncertain world, that house prices – those house prices that keep rising and rising and rising – finally run out of rocket power. Imagine, even, that they actually drop. Maybe 10%, maybe 20, maybe 40. Would that be economic doom for us all? Are people so deep in mortgage debt that a big fall might bring the whole New Zealand economy down with them? Hive News publisher and business commentator Bernard Hickey has been following our housing…