News

7 July 2008 Property owner alleges oppressive conduct by lender Mr and Mrs A owned several properties through their Family Trust. Their Queenstown property was purchased in April 2007 for $2.5m on a valuation of $2.6m. The As obtained mortgage finance of $1,875,000 from Cressida Capital Investment Limited. A clause in the agreement provided that the full amount of the loan would become repayable if, among other things, the property suffered a "material reduction in value". Read More »
3 July 2008 South Island real estate agents quitting in droves A residential real estate market in nationwide freefall has shed 1636 employees in six months, reports the Christchurch Press. Read More »
2 July 2008 Shared Equity Loans Pilot launched Aspiring first home buyers living in high-priced regions will be able to apply for a shared equity loan from the government from 2 July 2008, Housing Minister Maryan Street has announced. Read More »
1 July 2008 Housing consents drop in May Statistics New Zealand has released building consent statistics showing that there were 1,653 new housing units authorised in May 2008, a decrease of 669 units compared with May 2007. Read More »
1 July 2008 Third big windfarm planned for Wellington hills Plans for a third wind farm could take the number of turbines in Wellington's outer hills to more that 140 - together providing enough electricity to power every home in the city when operating at full capacity, the Dominion Post reports. Read More »
30 June 2008 Mayor's descendants lose battle for return of airport land The Lambie family, descendants of Manukau City founding mayor Hugh Lambie, have lost their High Court battle for the return of 36.4ha of their Mangere farm, the New Zealand Herald reports. Read More »
27 June 2008 Iwi to forgive Crown The Dominion Post reports that the Crown is to be forgiven for Treaty of Waitangi breaches in the settlement deal for a Wellington iwi. Read More »
25 June 2008 Wellington City Council faces huge bill to fix landmarks The Wellington City Council will have to come up with millions of dollars to strengthen some of its landmark buildings - and so will the owners of 1200 other properties, the Dominion Post reports. Read More »
24 June 2008 New plans for Transmission Gully get green light from Government A $1 billion proposal to ease congestion along Wellington's coastal commuter belt has passed a crucial hurdle, with Transport Minister Annette King expected to announce that the Government is ready to move to the next stage of planning to reroute parts of State Highway 1 inland - a huge milestone in Transmission Gully's troubled history. Read More »
23 June 2008 Supreme Court upholds property deal completed by terminally ill businessman The Supreme Court has ended a Christchurch widow's bid to overturn a property deal completed by her terminally ill husband, who was dying from liver cancer when he bought 3,000 square metres of central city real estate overlooking the Avon River in 2003. David Parkinson paid $12m for the site, despite that being several million more than he had paid for property in the past and being aware he was seriously ill. The deal ended up costing his family more than $500,000 in a forfeited deposit. Read More »
20 June 2008 Four loans may have crippled finance firm According to the Dominion Post, it may have taken just four loans, thought to be worth up to $20 million, that were not repaid on time, to stop Dominion Finance in its tracks. Read More »
19 June 2008 Lobby group urges caution on price for land swap The Government should be wary of offering too much to developers in exchange for the Ngunguru sand spit, says the Environmental Defence Society. Read More »
18 June 2008 Queenstown joins real estate downturn The Central Otago and Southern Lakes area, until now unaffected by a slowing real estate market, is now joining the downturn, reports the Christchurch Press. Read More »
17 June 2008 Work begins on Makara windfarm Concrete has now been poured on 26 of 62 turbine foundations, scattered across the 55-square-kilometre site of Meridian Energy's West Wind project on Wellington's southwest coast, the Dominion Post reports. Read More »
16 June 2008 Dog noise makes neighbour barking mad A seething Upper Hutt home owner says he has lost sleep for eight years because of incessant yapping from his neighbour's two pet Labradors, the Dominion Post reports. Read More »
13 June 2008 Real Estate Bill may be subject to change The National Business Review has published an article on the Real Estate Agents Bill before Parliament, which aims to strip the Real Estate Institute (REINZ) of its regulatory powers and establish a new independent Real Estate Agents Authority that will oversee licensing, complaints and disciplinary action for the nation's 18,000 agents. Read More »
12 June 2008 $30,000 fine a message for property developers A fine of $30,000 handed out to an experienced property developer sends a message that it is important to keep to plans on building consents, says the Manukau City Council in a recent press release. Read More »
11 June 2008 Greater Wellington regional rates set to rise 8.87 percent The Dominion Post reports that Greater Wellington regional councillors have approved an average 8.87 percent rates rise for the 2008/09 financial year, citing rapidly rising world oil prices. Read More »
10 June 2008 Decrease in building work The value of residential building work put in place fell 6.6 percent in the March 2008 quarter (after removal of price changes and seasonal fluctuation), Statistics New Zealand reports. This follows a fall of 2.0 percent in the December 2007 quarter. Read More »
10 June 2008 Serious safety risks foreseen under walking access legislation Federated Farmers has told MPs that proposed new walking access laws will pose serious safety risks to farmers, who already have to deal with criminal behaviour on their land, reports Radio New Zealand. Read More »
9 June 2008 New housing and migration research released Immigration Minister Clayton Cosgrove and Housing Minister Maryan Street have released the results of new research which shows there is little evidence that new immigrants drive up local house prices. Read More »
9 June 2008 Property market continues to ease QV's May statistics for the residential property market report a 2.4% growth in national property values over the past year (calculated over the three months ending May 2008 in comparison to the same period last year), down on the 4.9% growth reported in April. The average New Zealand sale price decreased slightly to $387,299. Read More »
5 June 2008 Earthquake-prone chapel to be strengthened The Dominion Post reports that film director Peter Jackson has two years to start strengthening an historic Wellington chapel that he and partner Fran Walsh saved from property developers when they bought it last year. Read More »
4 June 2008 Settlement without payment for old Napier Hospital site Full payment for the Napier Hospital site was not made by settlement date, but the purchase and development of the site will proceed, the developer says. Read More »
3 June 2008 Huge increase in building consents Statistics New Zealand has announced a huge increase in building consents, with 771 new apartment units authorised in April 2008, compared with 204 in April 2007. This is the highest monthly total since March 2005, and includes three apartment buildings with more than 150 units each. Read More »
30 May 2008 Greater protection for tenants under new bill The Residential Tenancies Act amendment bill introduced to Parliament today will give greater protection to vulnerable tenants and help both landlords and tenants to understand and enforce their respective rights, according to Building and Construction Minister Shane Jones. Read More »
30 May 2008 Unit Titles Bill The Government has introduced a Bill to repeal and replace the Unit Titles Act 1972 which aims to provide a modern legal framework for the joint ownership and management of land, buildings, and facilities on a socially and economically sustainable basis by communities of individual owners. Read More »
29 May 2008 Central Otago Subdivision approved A second application for a subdivision at Cairnmuir Station, west of Cromwell, has been successful. This follows the rejection of an earlier application which had more visible building platforms and road cuttings across the station. Read More »
27 May 2008 65 per cent sales growth in rural real estate PGG Wrightson has issued a press release stating that it sold Real Estate sold $2.3 billion worth of property during the 12 months to 31 March 2008, up 65 per cent on the previous 12 months figure of $1.4 billion. General manager of PGG Wrightson Real Estate Stuart Cooper says the buoyancy of dairying is one factor in the success, but not the whole story. Read More »
26 May 2008 Wellington buildings win architectural awards Two central Wellington buildings have won top prizes in New Zealand's architecture awards, the Dominion Post reports. Read More »
21 May 2008 Purchasing property from a deceased estate A nineteen-year-old who bought her first home is said to be facing financial hardship after a clause in the sale's contract left her exposed when the settlement date faltered. Read More »
20 May 2008 Housing confidence low An increasing number of people are expecting house prices to fall according to the latest ASB housing confidence survey. Read More »
20 May 2008 Shared equity to help home buyers The Kiwi dream of owning a home is not always a reality these days. So the government is bringing in a scheme to try and make it a reality for first home buyers buying "starter houses", aiming to help up to 700 households realise the dream. Read More »
19 May 2008 Ombudsman asked to investigate Council rent rise The Coalition for Fair Rents has made a formal complaint to the Ombudsman for what it says is a seriously flawed process that saw Christchurch City Council increase its social housing rents by 24 percent Read More »
15 May 2008 Banks reduce mortgage rates The major banks have continued to reduce mortgage interest rates. Read More »
14 May 2008 Developers forfeit deposit after contract cancelled The Southland Times has reported that the developers of a proposed $130 million housing development in Invercargill forfeited their $260,000 deposit on land they had proposed to subdivide after failing to provide the remaining money needed to settle the $2.6 million deal. Read More »
6 May 2008 Mauao Historic Reserve Vesting Bill The Maori Affairs Select Committee has reported back on the Mauao Historic Reserve Vesting Bill. Read More »
1 May 2008 Land issues fail to derail park study According to the Nelson Mail, complicated land ownership of Nelson's Trafalgar Park, including it being subject to a historic act that locks in its use forever as an athletics and recreation ground, might be a sticking point in its development as a top-class rugby venue. Read More »
1 May 2008 "Treelords" Treaty deal According to the Dominion Post, Tuwharetoa paramount chief Tumu te Heuheu is optimistic the "Treelords" forestry deal between the Crown and central North Island iwi will be signed in June. Read More »