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The Effect of Mortgage Rates Rise Is Still To Come

The Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Adrian Orr last week stated that the effect of rising mortgage rates is still to be fully felt across the wider economy.In a statement to the Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee, Orr said that it can take anywhere between 18 months and two-plus years for the RBNZ’s monetary policy decisions to take effect and for the economy to shift accordingly.So, even though some mortgage holders will no doubt already be feeling the additio...

Building supplies and practices

Entering the property market is no easy feat. With the average New Zealand house price reaching as high as $1.35 million, it is hard to be a first-time buyer. Globally, New Zealand has one of the highest housing prices to income ratios, making it increasingly expensive to own a home. With this confronting issue present within the property market, the New Zealand government's commerce commission has launched an investigation into the cost of building supplies. The outcomes of this analysis c...

Do you drink milk with your coffee?

It’s no secret that we Kiwis love our coffee. New Zealand places among the top 20 countries worldwide regarding our coffee consumption rate. Coffee culture plays a significant role in our daily lives. However, many Kiwis are now doing a double-take when buying coffee. The great question is, ‘how did this become so expensive?’ Believe it or not, the issue concerning the cost of coffee is far greater than your local cafe raising the price to make a few extra dollars; coffee itself is at...

Westpac Data Says Households Paying Down Mortgages Increases By 2.2%

During 2021 the number of Westpac NZ home loan customers in a position to get ahead of their mortgage repayments has risen from 65.9% of customers, to 68.1%.While an increase was seen across the board, some regions outstripped their neighbouring home owners. With the overall average “months ahead” sits at 10.5 months, Wellington took the lead with 75.2% ahead on their mortgages by an average of $18,252 aka 19 months ahead. Auckland is home to the largest average loan size but even there, cus...

Are Covid and City Rail to Blame for Chinese Billionaire’s Delayed Plans? New Zealand’s Tallest Building on Hold.

The Shanghai business magnate, Furu Ding, has plans to construct New Zealand’s tallest building in Auckland. However, Ding has recently applied for – and been granted – a last minute extension to his building consent after he claimed the delays are due to Auckland’s city rail link and Covid complications.The billionaire owns significant portions of New Zealand land and commercial interests, as well as a chain of luxury and high end hotels located throughout China and Singapore.In 2017, t...

What does 2022 hold for New Zealand housing and interest rates – and the dollar?

The last twelve months has, to many, felt like spinning our wheels in regards to both the economic uncertainty as well as the extended Covid-19 lockdowns and ongoing complications of the pandemic.Despite this feeling of treading water, house prices have continued to rise and the official cash rate had increased for the first time in seven years which has - in combination with the emergence of inflation - impacted the borrowing rates.The NZD has been performing well against the AUD but this doesn...

How do you avoid underinsurance? Being underinsured can happen without you even noticing, here’s how to protect yourself.

Avoiding underinsurance is vital for homeowners and business owners alike.By logging all of your assets (even the smaller ones), equipment purchases, updating your listed company vehicles, renovations and additions to your workplace, you can make sure your policy is adequate.What is being underinsured?Being underinsured refers to the situation owners find themselves in where their insurance policy does not reflect the real value of the assets covered by said policy.When you're dealing with busin...

Is New Zealand’s Economy Recovering After the Pandemic?

New Zealand has shown great resilience throughout the pandemic, and benefitting from the good management of the crisis as well as the discipline of citizens. While the country has resisted the negative effects remarkably well in many measurable ways, the economy has taken a hit – but is that changing, and how fast?While economic recovery is making steady progress, it seems that predicting the time to full recovery is more difficult than previously thought. Now is the time to pay closer attenti...

Why You Should Review Your Insurance Regularly – Save Money and Ensure Adequate Protection

Recurring costs like insurance can feel like a ‘set and forget’ aspect of life and running your business, but insurance is a big ticket item and you should make sure it is actually working for you.Making sure you are covered in an effective way doesn’t have to mean the highest price tag. By running through a few things with your insurance agent you can minimize the premium while staying covered for what you need....

What do the new medium density housing laws mean for me? (NZ)

What housing law changes mean for you and your neighbourhoodFrom August 2022 Kiwi’s will be able build up to three story homes on most sites without the need for additional resource consent.This is a change from current typical plans which only permit one home of two storeys.There are community concerns over what this will mean for those who live near sites owned by developers, and what the changes mean for people looking to build new homes in existing neighbourhoods.What cities are affected b...

How is overpaying related to product innovation?

Insurers tend to have a reputation of holding on to every claim cent they can and only paying out when they absolutely have to – however it’s is more accurate to note that insurers pay out a lot of money to policy holders. Even overpaying when it is more affordable to do so.This may seem like a nonsensical statement but when the cost of investigating the claim – assessments, agent time spent on research, etc. – exceeds the cost of paying out the total amount of the benefit it is better f...

Construction And Building

Stockpiling headlines have become somewhat ‘old news’ in recent times, but the most recent iteration of hoarding has more far-reaching consequences than bare toilet roll aisles.In the face of shortage rumours and low-level shortages to certain materials caused largely by logistical issues due to the pandemic - building companies have been hoarding building supplies. Unfortunately, as is the case with toilet roll panic buying, this over buying and stockpiling actually causes the shortages the...

Insurance Claims After Canterbury Flooding

Recent floods in Canterbury have devastated several farms after heavy rains on Sunday and Monday 30/5 & 31/5. The damage to submerged farms, torn out fences, and stock losses have triggered around three-hundred insurance claims for just one rural insurance company.While it is still early days and too early to estimate the damage done, it can only be imagined as vehicles, buildings, and fencing have all seen damage.The three hundred claims are thought to be just the beginning, with over ...

The New Zealand Housing And Building Market Needs Attention

There are several problems facing the New Zealand housing market right now – and they cannot be explained by the simple adage of supply and demand.Stats NZ has released the new housing consent numbers and brings good news – a record high number of consents have been issued in the year ending March 31st 2021 – but for some reason no one expects house prices to fall. Not even the experts are questioning that even with supply going up the prices are still increasing – despite the ...

MYOB’s 2021 Business Monitor

MYOB’s 2021 Business Monitor - a nationwide survey of over 1,000 SMEs owners and decision makers - has revealed insights showing that over 25% of NZ’s Small and medium-sized enterprises are expecting a small increase in revenue over the next 12 months.This cautious optimism is balanced with conservative estimates from around 41% of respondents who expect the same level of revenue, and 25% who expect a lowered income over the next 12 months.  While this is accurately described as cautiou...

How to Create the Ownership Mentality in your Employees

It’s not that difficult to start a new business in New Zealand but becoming successful is the real challenge. Many people start new companies each year and a great percentage of them fail. Why? There are usually a variety of reasons, but one thing is clear. As you move forward trying to establish your new business, you’ll need hard-working, faithful employees to get the job done. And how do you get that? There are a few ways to create the ownership mentality in your employees. The busin...

Welcome everyone to our January Newsletter and Happy New Year to all

We wish all our friends and supporters a prosperous 2021.  We have attached some photos from what we got up to in 2020 – many of you will even remember these events first hand as you were there too!!  The focus for us in 2021 is the same as last year and every other year for that matter – support our clients & make sure they get the best service possible, support our staff, support our charities & community groups and try and have a good time while we are doing it. The...

Small Business Owners Looking to Minimise Credit Risks

 A new finding by the credit data corporation shows a shocking rise in financial hardship including small business owners. Though Kiwis have banded together and done a great job of navigating the Covid-19 crisis, everyone’s finances have been affected. The New Zealand way of life has been the envy of countries around the world. And yet, small businesses are struggling during these unprecedented times.Many economic experts believe that the full impact of the pandemic has still not been fel...

Home Building Costs Rising as Industries Sees Labour Shortages

According to experts, residential building costs will rise over the next year due to a couple of essential factors. Of course, every industry has been hit hard by covid-19. Though some construction projects have continued, progress has been slow. Now, in addition to coronavirus concerns, the industry is suffering from a shortage of skilled labour.  "Sourcing the proper building materials has been challenging," said one industry expert. "Suppliers in China and Asia are still sluggish in...

Building a new harbour crossing in a post-Covid economy

The recent accident where the Waitemata Harbour Bridge was damaged by a truck hit by a wind gust has everyone talking. Though the event only took 60 seconds to unfold, it stranded hundreds of travelers for hours. The whole city of Auckland has been talking about how to design and create a second harbour crossing. Though most agree that the need is urgent, no one wants to make a hasty decision here. All the professionals believe it’s important to consider the long-term cultural, social, ec...

Escalation of Building Costs Results in Domestic and Commercial Properties Being Underinsured

The latest Rider Levett Bucknall report says that a backlog in construction projects due to the national health crisis will cause a sluggish year for construction in general. The report points out that levels of construction activity (whether high or low) always affect the prices of labour and materials. These elements together will have a bearing on construction inflation. Commercial building inflation hit 5% in 2018 and 2019, but then fell to 4.4% and then 3.8% by the first quar...

Lockdown Hits Construction in Melbourne

In Australia’s second largest city, Melbourne, the streets are nearly empty. This  thriving city of five million people came to a screeching halt when covid-19 hit for a second wave of outbreaks.Last March, a Level 4 Lockdown was imposed in New Zealand. This was effective at stopping the spread of the virus. All non-essential businesses were closed down including construction. The only construction projects allowed were those considered to be necessary to make a structure safe to inhabit....

What if all those unemployed now were to start their own business?

The last time New Zealand experienced such high unemployment numbers was 1987. During that recession, even college graduates could not find good jobs. People were out of work for months and desperate to create some type of income to support themselves. So what did they do? Many of them started their own business. It took two to three years for the NZ economy to recover and for people to begin finding good jobs again. But by this time, a great many of them had successful businesses and were ...

Ongoing Effects of COVID-19 on Construction

Economists have been saying that the New Zealand economy has seemed too good to be true for a while now. But things have changed. With the outbreak of COVID-19, there’s a strong chance that all business sectors, including construction may soon plunge into recession. Some countries such as America are already reporting this. In their fifth month now, many U.S. cities are reporting a second wave of the virus and new cases are reaching all-time highs. Businesses that were trying to reop...

Dealing With A Trusted Insurance Broker During The Recession

Now more than ever it is vital to be able to trust those we work with, particularly those that hold a position of importance in our lives and even more so when it comes to our financial security. You never know when something might go wrong; the last few months have evidenced how fickle the essential parts of life that we depend on can be. Dealing with a trusted insurance broker will bring you the peace of mind you deserve. Unfortunately, however, not everyone can be so fortunate as to rece...