The Reserve Bank have just reviewed monetary policy and left the cash rate at the 5.5% they took it to late in May. Since then, fixed mortgage rates have risen another 0.25% or so and these rises are at odds with the fresh news for the New Zealand economy. China’s economy is deteriorating, and this
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Housing weakness has ended This past month has brought further evidence to back the theme in my article four weeks ago that the real estate market is turning. The seasonally adjusted number of dwelling sales in the June quarter was ahead 19% from the March quarter and prices rose 0.7% in June after sitting flat
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Market turning By Tony Alexander During the four weeks since my last column there has been a noticeable lift in general discussion about the housing cycle hitting a bottom. We probably have, but it may be a number of months before we can confidently say exactly which month represented the nadir for average prices. Frankly,
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Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we are doing.  It involves not being overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. Money can be the cause of much stress, both personally and within relationships.  You can feel like you’re not earning enough,
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Your Review is About You not the Rate or the Return At review time, clients often steer us towards the performance of their portfolio or the interest rates on their mortgage.  Although these are important, the best advice we can give comes from understanding as much about you as we can. As Tony Alexander writes
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The most common question I get asked as a Financial Adviser is “what should I invest in to get me the best returns”?   The prospective client usually has something in mind already.  You guessed it, property.  Property is the most common asset kiwis invest in and everyone who owns property love to share their success.
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Young buyers are coming back From Independent Economist Tony Alexander In my monthly survey of mortgage advisers all around the country we can see that first home buyers are moving back into buying mode. Before the shock inflation number of October 18 then the record monetary policy tightening of November 23, a net 48% of
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Is Property still a good investment?   Let’s start by defining property investment as a property that will be rented out, rather than a property to live in.  We will mostly focus on residential property for this article but will also touch on industrial and commercial property. Let’s examine why you might buy property as
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The Christmas Gift of Buffett I recently read a book about Warren Buffet, called Buffet, Making of an American Capitalist, by Roger Lowenstein, which was published in 1996.  Warren Buffet is one of the most successful investors in history.  He is often referred to as “The Oracle of Omaha” and has at times been the
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LOVE YOUR MONEY   If your home loan interest rate is coming up for review shortly, then this information is for you! By being proactive, and talking to your adviser, you can put together a plan, and remove some of the fear that higher interest rates can generate. A few tips to help manage increased interest
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If you can dream it, you can do it Yes, it’s true.  It is possible to buy your first home in this market.  We have seen what planning, budgeting and hard work can produce.  Sacrifice, yes there is that too.  As Walt Disney said “if you can dream it, you can do it”.  We have
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From Tony Alexander The negatives for housing have been dominant over the past year and a half with regard to interest rates rising, net migration flows turning negative, new house supply rising firmly, credit access tightening, and tax changes dissuading investors. Initially these factors were swamped by a shortage of listings from mid-2021. But since
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Firstly, a bear market is one that is falling.  Imagine a bear tearing the market down.  A market that is moving up is often referred to a bull market.  Imagine a bull bucking the market up. “Regular savings makes you love and long for bear markets” Nick Murray.  Nick Murray has been a financial services
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From Tony Alexander   The Reserve Bank has raised its official cash rate by 0.5% three times in a row now and extra rises eventually taking the official cash rate to 3.5% from the current 2.5% look likely. But the most recent change in fixed mortgage rates has been a cutting of the two year
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Let’s hear Independent Economist Tony Alexander’s Latest View First   In the past month forecasts for world growth have been revised downward, more evidence has emerged of troubles in the home building sector, we learnt retail spending was weaker than thought in the March quarter, and the Reserve Bank has lifted its cash rate by
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Interest rate implications of an economic downturn Independent economist Tony Alexander shares his monthly view: Come May 25 the Reserve Bank are likely to increase the official cash rate by another 0.5% to 2.0% as they take away the pandemic stimulus and try to actively restrain growth in the economy. Those last five words are
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Interest rates rising From Independent Economist Tony Alexander On April 13 the Reserve Bank accelerated its pace of monetary policy with a 0.5% rise in the official cash rate. This followed three rises of 0.25% and was motivated by inflation set to soon exceed 7% as a result of supply chain disruptions and Russia’s war
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Often in life, which is perpetuated by social media, we compare ourselves to others.  We see things posted online or a friend will brag about something they have accomplished or bought.  This is no different when it comes to investments, in fact it can be worse. Over the past few weeks, we have spoken to
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Invasion from Russia and Inflation Due to the uncertain times that are upon us we thought we would come out to you about the current Ukraine invasion and inflation.  Both are impacting on global markets.  You may have noticed the impact on your Kiwisaver or investment portfolio you hold with us.  We discuss the impacts
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On the radio this morning I heard that a report issued by AIA NZ shows one fifth of Financial Advisers are seeking or have sought medical help for stress in the last few months, and a quarter are looking to exit the industry.  It made me think about how our team is going and about
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