Home loan approvals have topped NZ$1 billion in value for the third week running, Reserve Bank data shows, with the average value reaching a record high of NZ$163,385.
The last time there were three consecutive weeks of NZ$1 billion worth of mortgages approved was in December 2007.
A total of 6,806 residential mortgages were approved in the week to December 16 valued at NZ$1.1 billion. The volume's up 229 week-on-week and 350 from the week ended December 2. By value approvals in the week ended December 2 reached NZ$1.04 billion, topping NZ$1 billion in a week for the first time since April 2009. In the week ending December 9, mortgages worth NZ$1.05 billion were approved.
By volume approvals for the week ending December 16 rose 8.7% on an annual basis based on a comparison of the most recent 13 weeks of data to the same 13 weeks in the previous year, with the value up 28.8% on the same basis.
The current strong run of mortgage approvals, compared with the last two and a half years' at least, comes with the Official Cash Rate at a record low of 2.5% and some economists predicting it'll stay there until late 2012 or even into 2013.
The Reserve Bank defines a mortgage approval as a firm commitment to provide credit for the purchase of housing, which has been accepted by the borrower. It says a commitment exists once the home loan application is approved, and a loan contract or letter of offer has been issued to the borrower.
Seven banks respond to the Reserve Bank's survey, between them representing 99% of registered bank lending for housing, and about 94% of total housing lending. See more detail in the Reserve Bank's description of the data series here.
Prior to the three consecutive weeks of NZ$1 billion worth of mortgages being approved, NZ$966 million worth were approved in the week to Friday, November 25. Meanwhile, the banks' latest General Disclosure Statements show an increase in the value of residential mortgages they're writing with loan to value ratios (LVRs) in excess of 80%.
Mortgage approvals
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26 Comments
but whats to learn? there has been no nasty experience....etc
If you wanted, you could read a great deal and draw some conclusions, and decide about the best course of action (personally).....but when our leaders say all is OK....and the banksters etc say growth will be back, how many ppl will really look deeply under the covers?
regards
SK,
I have no idea, obviously, on your situation so this is by no means an attack on you.
Retenanted our place(our future home not an investment property as such), accepted a 12% drop in rent despite offers at parity to previous tenants rent. Why? In short, social responsibility.
Place is still paying itself off comfortably with our moderate to low debt level. We have been able to facilitate a young couple with their first bub who are really trying to get ahead. Young father works six days a week. Fantastic tenants. Reminded us of us not very long ago.
If you can afford to, give someone(who deserves it) a break! Dont have to be a religo to behave altruistically. And we feel pretty good(selfish motivations anyway) while taking a 2K hit annually. I'm on average wage, so is my partner with a little one so every cent matters.
Garth George(in my opinion a hyprocritical, bigoted muppet) of all people signed off from the herald today bemoaning inequality. If only more people practiced what they preached.
Is there such a thing as moral capitalism? Of coarse, it starts with the individual.
Have you lot finished?....have you forgotten the fact that an unknown chunk of these mortgages are folk taking out new contracts to clear previous mortgages...a case of swap around the banks...in reality not new mortgage lending at all...same ol BS spun with the comment missing.
Look elsewhere today and you read of a 2% plus fall in the building sector GDP data....now try to put that with the BS about increased mortgage lending.
You're right Wolly in that, as I've noted in previous stories on mortgage approvals, the RBNZ does include - as a new approval - when a loan is refinanced using a different bank. Full details of what's included and excluded from the data are here - http://www.rbnz.govt.nz/statistics/monfin/c16/description.html
Still, the data does show a market that's more active than it has been for some time.
The last time there were three consecutive weeks of NZ$1 billion worth of mortgages approved was in December 2007.
And all that cash is chasing a smaller number of houses every month as nothing gets built and no one wants to buy anything built from 1990 till 2005.
Party time for all those holding non leakers in Auckland.
Message to Ngakonui Gold.
If you read what Olly Newland (Auck Prop Guru) has to say about this ---is that the increased
GST to 15%, is a factor. The way he explains it is that a New House Package costing say
$200,000 -- the GST Content is approx $26,000. so you only get $174,000 worth of Material and Labour, etc. The new Section as well --will also have GST built in.
But a Second Hand House has No GST --and if built 10 years ago the GST was maybe 10%, or if well before that ----No GST as it had not been brought in.
Olly was also stating, that this situation was reducing the demand for a New Houses,
basically because with an older house you may get more house for your money.
The latest RBNZ sector credit figures, out today, show housing debt fell NZ$107 million in November to NZ$172.903 billion. We think that's just the 2nd monthly fall ever (first was Dec 2010) since the series began in 1998.
Here's our chart on it - http://www.interest.co.nz/charts/credit/housing-credit
Page A25 of this moaning's Chch Press : " Property Unstoppable " ... Jazial Crossley reports on what looks like a good time to buy property .....
.... I could bore you with the arguments from Bayleys , Harcourts , and the REINZ ......
But the summation says it all : Property is cheap , currently ...... now is a good time to buy !
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