Money Tree

The Money Market

(9am on 22 May 2015) the money markets were at the following levels:

Official cash rate 3.50% (unchanged)
90 day bill rate 3.49 (down from 3.55)
1 year swap rate 3.36 (down from 3.41)
3 year swap rate 3.47 (down from 3.50)
10 year bond rate 3.45 (down from 3.51)
NZ/US dollar 0.7178 (down from 0.7497)

The Budget

The budget was presented just over a week ago and within a couple of days all comments about it have ceased. For those with mortgages or looking to purchase a property, the budget was neutral. The capital gain aspect, imposed on rental properties being sold within a two year period, was really showing the Government was doing something - but how effective it will be, remains to be seen. A comment that appears to be missing, is that slowing the property market, does enable the Reserve Bank to cut wholesale rates. We expect this to happen over the next three months. This will assist those with mortgages, as interest rates will decrease.

New LVR restrictions on Rental Properties

On 1 October this year, the Reserve Bank will bring in some new criteria for those purchasing rental properties. All people wanting to borrow from a bank to purchase a rental property in Auckland will have to have a 30% deposit. This is unlikely to be onerous on seasoned investors, as many do have reasonable amounts of equity in their properties. It will stop a number of younger, higher geared, investors from entering the market.

The Money Market

This morning (9am on 1 May 2015) the money markets were at the following levels:

Official cash rate 3.50% (unchanged)
90 day bill rate 3.64 (up from 3.62)
1 year swap rate 3.53 (down from 3.59)
3 year swap rate 3.51 (up from 3.35)
10 year bond rate 3.30 (up from 3.16)
NZ/US dollar 0.7621 (down from 0.7672)

The Money Market

This morning (9 am on 2 April 2015) the money markets were at the following levels:

Official cash rate 3.50% (unchanged)
90 day bill rate 3.64 (up from 3.62)
1 year swap rate 3.57 (up from 3.56)
3 year swap rate 3.58 (up from 3.55)
10 year bond rate 3.25 (up from 3.22)
NZ/US dollar 0.7449 (up from 0.7388)

The Money Market

This morning (9 am on 20 March 2015) the money markets were at the following levels:

Official cash rate 3.50% (unchanged)
90 day bill rate 3.62 (down from 3.64)
1 year swap rate 3.56 (down from 3.57)
3 year swap rate 3.55 (down from 3.62)
10 year bond rate 3.22 (down from 3.36)
NZ/US dollar 0.7388 (down from 0.7477)

Competition between Banks is very strong - we are happy to negotiate rates on your behalf to get the best possible deal for you! Give us a call!

This morning (3.30 pm on 6 November 2014) the money markets were at the following levels:

Official cash rate 3.50% (unchanged)
90 day bill rate 3.68 (unchanged)
1 year swap rate 3.74 (down from 3.89)
3 year swap rate 4.00 (down from 4.18)
10 year bond rate 4.00 (down from 4.03)
NZ/US dollar 0.7695 (down from 0.7825)

OCR Review due Thursday - at this stage doesn't look like we'll see any change. Most economists not predicting any change until at least March 2015.

This morning (9.00 am on 10 October 2014) the money markets were at the following levels:

Official cash rate 3.50% (unchanged)
90 day bill rate 3.68 (down from 3.73)
1 year swap rate 3.80 (down from 3.84)
3 year swap rate 4.14 (down from 4.19)
10 year bond rate 4.07 (down from 4.18)
NZ/US dollar 0.7865 (down from 0.7926)

This morning (9.00 am on 26 September 2014) the money markets were at the following levels:

Official cash rate 3.50% (unchanged)
90 day bill rate 3.73 (up from 3.71)
1 year swap rate 3.84 (up from 3.82)
3 year swap rate 4.19 (down from 4.22)
10 year bond rate 4.18 (down from 4.23)
NZ/US dollar 0.7926 (down from 0.8182)

Things have settled down a bit re changes to the OCR – calm expected to last until March 2015.
Risk is that if you don’t lock in long term rates now, you’ll miss the boat if the US suddenly increases their interest rates. Give us a call!