Where are all the investors?
Zebra Mortgages
by admin
3y ago
It’s the middle of 2019 and the property market seems to be slowing up. Both the high value houses and the lower have ground to a halt. This isn’t confined to Auckland either. According to the REINZ the total volume of residential property sales were down 8.5% compared to the first half of last year country wide.  The monthly sales figures from the REINZ show that in the first half of this year A closer look at the figures shows that much of the decline was caused by lower sales of properties at the top end of the market, those selling for $1,000,000 plus. We find it more surprising thoug ..read more
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What’s the plan when my fixed rate finishes?
Zebra Mortgages
by admin
3y ago
We get this question asked all the time. To start, it’s important that you think about what might happen if interest rates rise. We can help you with a quick budget to plan what might happen if you lose your job, or something unforeseen happens. In other words we believe it’s about making the best decision to match your current situation and future goals. How interest rates work The OCR is set by the Reserve Bank. The rate is set based on economic theory to either stimulate or slow down the economy. As the economy and business confidence are very low, the rate has never been lower,. What happe ..read more
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Did you know that Kiwis are the third most likely people to hand in lost wallets?
Zebra Mortgages
by admin
3y ago
This is the result from a new study. New Zealanders are the third most likely to hand over a lost wallet containing money than people from any other country. The study undertook field experiments using 17,000 portfolios and was delivered to public and private institutions in 360 cities in 39 countries. Some wallets  and contained on average $14. The most honest people was the Danes, who handed in all of the wallets containing money. Sweden was 2nd. In terms of regions, the Scandinavian countries did best, whilst South America and Mexico were least likely to give a wallet back if it had no ..read more
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Our reflection on real estate
Zebra Mortgages
by admin
3y ago
The residential housing market in NZ has now entered a new 15-month cycle. This cycle is less active in terms of turnover than in previous cycles, which generally began with the exit of the economy from the global financial crisis of 2007, and prices are more stable and have reached unprecedented highs. This is more of a traditional cycle in which buyers have more time to review their decisions and where the parties involved need to negotiate and reach a compromise. The earthquakes had certainly caused a giant rise in price of real estate, however this quickly plateaued out, only to be overtak ..read more
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Living longer and longer
Zebra Mortgages
by admin
3y ago
As New Zealanders turn 65, we are healthier, more energetic and more engaged than ever. With potentially more than 30 years of life before us, more and more Kiwis continue to work into our golden years and further. It seems unbearable to think that you are 65 if you feel good enough and that you may live three more decades without a plan on how you are going to finance yourself, stay happy and healthy.” Working to old age, if your health permits, has a surprisingly wide range of benefits. Older workers stimulate the entire economy, provide billions of dollars of volunteer work in the community ..read more
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Battle of the thermostat. Mens productivity rises in lower temps
Zebra Mortgages
by admin
3y ago
The thermostat battle is a common gender conflict in most New Zealand offices, but a new study has shown that women perform better in hot offices, while men’s cognitive performance peak in cold weather. I think anecdotally, we have all known this to be the case. A laboratory experiment in Germany, supported by the University of Southern California, studied 543 students. All of them were given cognitive tasks such as maths, verbal and cognitive thinking, while the indoor temperature was manipulated for one hour. Women performed better in mathematics and verbal tasks at higher temperatures than ..read more
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How artificial intelligence can help small businesses
Zebra Mortgages
by admin
3y ago
The evolution of artificial intelligence has led to the opening of unmanned convenience stores and self-service bank branches in Japan and China. Could we be seeing these sorts of changes here? Large companies can afford to invest in technology to maximize their efficiency, but SMEs can not use much in the market. In NZ we may find that this is where our small banks may fall down. The technology is new and not very well tested. Whilst some banks such as BNZ are beginning to implement machine learning, it could be sometime before bankers are put out of jobs. “People who work and run SMEs have ..read more
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Within the high cost world of an ethical clothing brand
Zebra Mortgages
by admin
3y ago
Many facets of the apparel and clothes industry can be inexpensive and easy, even if ethics and organic fabrics are not your priority when it comes to shopping. However, and General Manager Samantha Jones has decided to take the hard way to ensure a quality product. Saying no to synthetic fabrics and cheap plastic packaging has earned the two-time finalist of Women of Influence in New Zealand’s garment industry, while leaving a positive impact on the environment. For Jones, raw materials and expensive suppliers on the other side of the world are just some of the costly challenges she fac ..read more
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Dunedin leads NZ in EV ownership
Zebra Mortgages
by admin
3y ago
Dunedin has the highest proportion of electric vehicle drivers in New Zealand, according to a recent study from the University of Otago. Auckland had less than one all-electric vehicle for every 1,000 people, but city-dwellers seem to prefer hybrid cars. Whereas, the South Island city has the highest number of pure electric vehicles per capita, with 3.73 electric vehicles per 1,000 population, followed by Wellington with 3.19. Aucklanders own just over 2.60 plug-in hybrid cars per 1,000 people, the highest number in the country. However, considering the total number of adoptions combining bot ..read more
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Do you need to use your home equity to buy a rental?
Zebra Mortgages
by admin
3y ago
This is a question we get asked quite often. When your home has gained value and you are reducing your debt every month, you can quickly find yourself with a lot of equity in your home. Should you use this to invest in more property? It may be possible to access some of this equity to invest (keeping in mind that repaying your mortgage is the safest and least risky investment you can make). The answer to the question will come down to your investor profile, and your current financial commitments. What is my long-term financial plan? Investing in the property is not an objective in itself. It ..read more
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