A review of things you need to know before you go home Monday; SBS Bank ups TD rate, NZCU South cuts, no signs of credit stress, new mortgage lending low, swaps firm, NZD soft, bitcoin surges (again)

Here are the key things you need to know before you leave work today.

MORTGAGE RATE CHANGES
No changes to report today.

DEPOSIT RATE CHANGES
SBS Bank today launched a 3.75% one year interest-at-maturity 'special' for a deposit of at least $5,000. NZCU South cut -5 bps from their one year rate, down to 3.75%. They cut -10 bps from their 18 month rate to 4.00%. There were similar trims for shorter terms as well.

STILL NO CREDIT STRESS
The rate of personal bankruptcy and No Asset Procedure filings has fallen to the lowest level we began tracking this weekly in late 2007. In the year to Friday, November 24, 2017 there were 3,058 such filings. That is -15.5% lower that the same time a year ago. MBIE has records going back to 2003 and the low in that series in 2,920 in mid-2004. Of course since then our population has risen by +20%.

STILL GETTING DRIER
I know we mentioned it last week, but the country continues to dry off, as the soil moisture chart below shows. The impact is national.

FHBs STILL IN THE GAME, OTHERS DEPARTING
New Reserve Bank figures show that despite significant falls in overall mortgage borrowing, first home buyers are very much still around and interested. The falls are sharp for lending to investors, and to other owner-occupiers, however. Apart from for first-home buyers, lending rates in September and October were lower than at any time since the data series started in August 2015 and a working-day basis. And that even includes the seasonal holiday period of December and January.

'ABSOLUTELY POSITIVE'
Maybe that is why the WMP derivatives prices are higher today, anticipating lower milk production? That rise, and another rise to a new record high on the NZX50 shows local markets are optimistic starting the week. Only housing markets are struggling.

GROWING FASTER THAN THEIR ECONOMY
The value of assets held by China’s banking sector rose +10.0% to NZ$53.4 tln as at the end of-October compared with a year earlier, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said earlier today.

WHOLESALE RATES EDGE UP
Swap rates are up +1 bp for a two year term, up +1 bp for five years, and up +2 bps for ten years. The 90 day bank bill rate is unchanged at 1.91%.

NZ DOLLAR FLAT, BITCOIN SURGES
The NZ dollar has moved sideways today and is now at 68.6 USc. On the cross rates we are unchanged at 90.2 AUc but lower against a rising euro at 57.5 euro cents. That has the TWI-5 marginally softer at 71.2. The bitcoin price has jumped today, tulip-style. It is now at US$9,668 which is important locally because it is now above NZ$14,000. US$10,000 is the next benchmark. We now have the bitcoin price included in the currency chart below.

You can now see an animation of this chart. Click on it, or click here.