The summer was cooler than usual in many parts of the country and that was the case in parts of the housing market too as last year’s tougher LVR rules for landlords helped change the usual real estate weather patterns. The stratified median house price in Auckland fell 6% to 9% in seasonally adjusted terms in January from December and sales volumes were significantly down from a year ago. Just as the heat radiated from Auckland last year, that cooling is spreading out to the closest cities of Hamilton and Tauranga.
A slight rise in fixed mortgage rates late in 2016 and a tightening of lending criteria by some banks has also cooled activity. Some banks are increasing both term deposit and mortgage rates to try to match their inflows of funds with their outflow of loans. That helps them avoid having to go overseas into the volatile short term funding markets, which the Reserve Bank is keen they avoid.
A slight rise in fixed mortgage rates late in 2016 and a tightening of lending criteria by some banks has also cooled activity. Some banks are increasing both term deposit and mortgage rates to try to match their inflows of funds with their outflow of loans. That helps them avoid having to go overseas into the volatile short term funding markets, which the Reserve Bank is keen they avoid.
