Tauranga stories
Possible tighter rules could curb investor demand as mortgaged buyers regain a 27% share of the housing market, CoreLogic says.
Additional public and transitional homes will be targeted at regional centres where demand has surged ahead of supply, worsening rents and overcrowding.
Listings fell to record lows as buyers pushed Auckland’s median house price to GBP £1 million and nationwide sales hit a 14-year October high.
Nationwide property values rose 0.8% in September as low rates and scarce listings kept demand firm despite the economic downturn.
Transport industry groups say decades of stop-start planning could end if National’s $31 billion road and rail programme goes ahead.
The proposed $31 billion programme would reshape commuting in the upper North Island, while relying on RMA repeal and borrowing powers.
Property values have already slipped nationwide, with tourism-dependent centres like Queenstown hardest hit as the recession starts to bite.
Better freight services and more reliable trains are set to follow, as the funding also covers new ferries and ageing locomotives.
Queenstown looks most exposed, with tourism reliance and Airbnb saturation making its property market vulnerable to a COVID-19 downturn.
New roads, rail, schools and hospitals should help address years of underinvestment, though critics question whether USD $12 billion is enough.
A new report has reinforced pressure on ministers to back council infrastructure spending, after all eight cities were classed as severely unaffordable.
Higher borrowing demand and scant listings pushed New Zealand’s national median house price to a record NZD $630,000 in November.
Civil contractors say the Government must back already designed transport works quickly to protect jobs as big projects finish.
Top-end flats are showing some weakness, even as most apartment prices move broadly in line with the wider property market.
Auckland could gain valuable waterfront land and Northland secure a major jobs boost if the freight port is shifted, but the bill is likely to run to billions.
A safety prosecution has exposed maintenance failures after a brake defect left two people badly injured and cost Sorensen Transport GBP £150,000.
Christchurch’s regeneration was underscored as Tūranga won the Supreme Award, while 10 other projects were named category winners.
Two artists from different disciplines have collaborated on a show that utilises virtual reality to take attendees into imaginative lands.
The Tauranga home was left uninhabitable after an incorrectly fitted gas fireplace sparked a blaze, with the gasfitter ordered to pay $20,000.
Auckland households are now $96 a week worse off than a decade ago, as soaring housing and transport costs drag New Zealand's cities behind Australia’s.
