2015
Mar
15

NZ could create foreign property buyer register

With Auckland's housing market continuing to surge upwards the Government may follow Australia's example and establish a foreign property buyer register to try and curb soaring house prices.  The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) recently announced that more properties were sold in February across New Zealand than in any February since 2007 - the height of the last property boom. They also announced the average Auckland house price had gone up by 14 per cent since February 2014.  Auckland represented 70 per cent of all property transactions in April and elsewhere across the country median house prices hardly moved.  Part of the force driving up prices is thought to be the numbe…
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2015
Mar
07

US economy shrugs off winter with rise in jobs

Falling oil prices and a particularly harsh winter may have meant the US economy didn't quite get the lift off many were predicting last year, but the latest round of job figures helped shrug off some of the winter blues.  February saw 295,000 new jobs added to the US economy, the 12th straight month more than 200,000 jobs had been added in a month.  In a blogpost Jason Furman, chairman of the White House’s council of economic advisers, said: “With another strong employment report, we have now seen twelve straight months of private-sector job gains above 200,000 – the first time that has happened since 1977. Moreover, 2014 was the best year for job growth since the late 1990s and 2015 has …
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2015
Mar
07

Auckland's $1 million club

What used to be one of Auckland's most exclusive clubs got more members last week.  Five more suburbs joined the million dollar club, where the average price for a house is $1 million or more. There are now 36 suburbs in Auckland where the average price tops the million mark.  The New Zealand Herald reported the new suburbs were Grey Lynn, Freemans Bay, Northcote Pt, Schnapper Rock and Farm Cove. The paper also reported there were 13 more suburbs where the average house price was $900,000 and that Herne Bay was approaching $2 million for its average house price.  CoreLogic research analyst Nick Goodall told the Herald the number of million-dollar suburbs now was "startling". "In terms of…
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