Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.
TODAY'S MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
Overnight, ANZ hit the home loan market with a raft of reductions. The main one of note is that their one year fixed rate is now a market-leader. As good as that is, it is not as low as SBS Bank's 2 year rate.
TODAY'S DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
There were term deposit rate cuts today from the Co-operative Bank and Kookmin Bank.
PASSING MUSTER
The audit report of the Primary Growth Partnership system has found a system working well after teething issues. But the Auditor General is now looking into Auckland Council’s management of the project to develop a new town centre in Massey North which has come in for substantial local criticism.
HOUSE PRICES FALL ?? WTF ?
As you will know by now, house prices fell while volumes sold rose in the New Zealand housing markets in January, according to the latest REINZ data out today.
ACC LEVY CUTS COMING FOR MOTORISTS
From 1 July 2015, the average motor vehicle levy, including the annual license levy and petrol levy, will reduce from $330 to $195.
GOOD DEFLATION
Retail spending using electronic cards decreased by a seasonally adjusted -0.4% in January 2015. Lower petrol prices were the main reason it was so low because most other retail industries had increases with consumables and durables leading these rises.
RUNNING OUT OF PUFF?
Home loan approvals were a modest 5,007 last week. The average mortgage value was $197,000 which is also lame by recent standards.
BUDGET DAY SET
Bill English has announced that this year's Budget will be presented on May 21, 2015
WHOLESALE RATES JUMP AGAIN
After yesterday's consolidation, New Zealand swap rates resumed their strong rises. They were up between +2 and +7 bps across the curve in a steepening bias. This follows rises in New York overnight. The 90 day bank bill rate however fell -1 bps to 3.64%.
NZ DOLLAR RISES
Check our real-time charts here. The NZ dollar has started to rise again modestly. It is now at 74.3 USc, 95.6 AUc (the record all-time high is 96.4 AUc which we are closing in on again), and the TWI is now at 77.6.
You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.
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