Property is in the Inland Revenue Department’s sights again this year. It has released its compliance focus document for the 2012-2013 year, which details the steps it will take to ensure property investors and traders are paying the correct amounts of tax. 04-09-2012 more >>
More regulation around real property proportionate ownership schemes is unlikely to deter investors, says Mark Schiele, chief executive of Oyster Property Group. 03-09-2012 more >>
He’s had some of the highest-profile publicity available for the house he wants to sell but Trevor Palmer says so far that hasn’t turned into any extra inquiries. 03-09-2012 more >>
The NZ Property Investors’ Federation needs to gain more information on rental property insulation for both lobbying purposes and obtaining discounts for members. 01-09-2012 more >>
Rental prices in New Zealand have grown well over the past few years, however this growth has slowed through this years winter months. The median rental price grew from $330 in January this year to $340 in May, but fell in July to $320. 01-09-2012 more >>
High-profile property developer and racehorse owner Don Ha has been bankrupted. Ha and his wife Mohini were bankrupted in the Auckland High Court yesterday after action brought by KiwiBank, supported by BNZ, Westpac, ANZ National and the Public Trust. 31-08-2012 more >>
Construction growth is tailing off everywhere except Auckland and Canterbury, the Registered Master Builders Federation says. The latest building consent figures show an increase in activity on 2011, with 1478 house and apartment consents issued in July 2012, a 26 per cent increase on the same month a year before. 31-08-2012 more >>
Landlords have been getting a bad rap over recent weeks, with newspaper articles outlining property investors’ seeming reluctance to take up the Warm Up NZ subsidy for retrofitting insulation. 30-08-2012 more >>
Access to safe, decent, affordable housing is the single biggest issue facing hundreds of thousands of Aucklanders, according to a report from Salvation Army social policy analyst Alan Johnson. 30-08-2012 more >>
Nearly a billion dollars’ worth of building consents was approved in Canterbury in the first half of 2012, quickly approaching the 1.2 billion consented over the whole of last year. 29-08-2012 more >>
Landlords must be careful if they try to recover new water costs by adding them to the rent they charge, says the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment. 28-08-2012 more >>
The Economist magazine recently stated that New Zealand house prices were 66% over valued based on a comparison to New Zealand rental prices. The NZ Property Investors’ Federation believes that the magazine’s study uses the wrong figures for rental price and expected rental return. The Federation also believes that the magazine has not examined whether rental prices are in fact too low when using them to reach a conclusion on property prices. 28-08-2012 more >>
How much would it cost to replace your investment properties if disaster struck? Consumer chief executive Sue Chetwin says that information will be vital under changes to the way home insurance policies are structured.
27-08-2012 more >>
Applications for investment in the ASB bank national support centre building in Auckland are oversubscribed ahead of the scheduled closing date for the syndicated sale. 27-08-2012 more >>
Awareness of the shortage of available housing in some parts of New Zealand is driving buyers into the market, says BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander. Investors are also increasingly looking to buy he says, driven by expectations of rent rises and capital gains. 24-08-2012 more >>
New ground rent charges for leasehold buildings on Auckland’s waterfront are coming as a rude shock to many property owners, says the city’s property investors association. 23-08-2012 more >>
The former Waitakere City was a standout for property sales in July, according to Realestate.co.nz Its latest Property Pulse factsheet for the region showed there were 329 sales for the month – just under June’s total. That was a 39% increase on July 2011. 22-08-2012 more >>
Issues around water use and who pays for it have been clarified by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s building and housing department – but not to the satisfaction of the New Zealand Property Investors Federation. 22-08-2012 more >>
New Zealand may be one of the most over-valued housing markets, but that doesn’t mean prices are going to fall any time soon, says BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander. 21-08-2012 more >>
ANZ says too much focus in the housing affordability debate is being put on a shortage of supply. It says any effort to make housing more affordability needs to look at lots of factors, including improving the income side of the equation. 20-08-2012 more >>
Self-employed people are flocking to low-doc loans, brokers say. The loans don’t require the same amount of paperwork as a standard mortgage and are popular with those who do not yet have the financial records to declare their income. 20-08-2012 more >>
Buyers are likely to hesitate about purchasing at partly-built Pegasus Town, near Christchurch, now that it is in receivership, despite assurances from the developer that it is business as usual, says one local real estate agent. 17-08-2012 more >>
ANZ’s latest property report says the housing market looks likely to remain sketchy and prone to short bursts of enthusiasm followed by consolidation, as opposed to any clear trend. 17-08-2012 more >>
New Zealanders are increasingly confident about borrowing to buy homes and businesses, according to credit bureau Veda. Almost 50% more people made mortgage inquiries this year, compared to 2011. 16-08-2012 more >>
