Market Turning
By Tony Alexander During the four weeks since my last column there has been a noticeable lift in general discussion about the housing cycle hitting a bottom. We probably have, but it may be a number of months before we can confidently say exactly which month represented the nadir for average prices. Frankly, it shouldn’t […]
Money Mindfulness
Mindfulness is the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we are doing. It involves not being overly reactive or overwhelmed by what’s going on around us. Money can be the cause of much stress, both personally and within relationships. You can feel like you’re not earning enough, […]
Your Review is about you, not the Rate or the Return
At review time, clients often steer us towards the performance of their portfolio or the interest rates on their mortgage. Although these are important, the best advice we can give comes from understanding as much about you as we can. As Tony Alexander writes below, there’s a lot of different mortgage offers being put forward […]
What should I invest in to get the best return?
The most common question I get asked as a Financial Adviser is “what should I invest in to get me the best returns”? The prospective client usually has something in mind already. You guessed it, property. Property is the most common asset kiwis invest in and everyone who owns property love to share their success. […]
Young buyers are coming back
From Independent Economist Tony Alexander In my monthly survey of mortgage advisers all around the country we can see that first home buyers are moving back into buying mode. Before the shock inflation number of October 18 then the record monetary policy tightening of November 23, a net 48% of mortgage brokers in my survey […]
Is property still a good investment?
Let’s start by defining property investment as a property that will be rented out, rather than a property to live in. We will mostly focus on residential property for this article but will also touch on industrial and commercial property. Let’s examine why you might buy property as an investment. Some of the reasons (not […]
The Christmas Gift of Buffett
I recently read a book about Warren Buffet, called Buffet, Making of an American Capitalist, by Roger Lowenstein, which was published in 1996. Warren Buffet is one of the most successful investors in history. He is often referred to as “The Oracle of Omaha” and has at times been the richest person in America. Over […]
Love Your Money
If your home loan interest rate is coming up for review shortly, then this information is for you! By being proactive, and talking to your adviser, you can put together a plan, and remove some of the fear that higher interest rates can generate. A few tips to help manage increased interest repayments. If you […]
If you can dream it, you can do it
If you can dream it, you can do it Yes, it’s true. It is possible to buy your first home in this market. We have seen what planning, budgeting and hard work can produce. Sacrifice, yes there is that too. As Walt Disney said “if you can dream it, you can do it”. We have […]
Turning of the housing cycle
From Tony Alexander The negatives for housing have been dominant over the past year and a half with regard to interest rates rising, net migration flows turning negative, new house supply rising firmly, credit access tightening, and tax changes dissuading investors. Initially these factors were swamped by a shortage of listings from mid-2021. But since […]