WATER USE CUT BACK AGAIN

Water restrictions are back with more to come. Rapidly falling ground and bore water levels have seen the Tasman District Council move to stage one restrictions across much of the district and warn further water cuts are on the cards for next week.  An alternate day hose ban is immediately in place for households in Richmond, Mapua, Ruby Bay, Brightwater, Hope and Wakefield.  The council’s Dry Weather Taskforce convenor, Dennis BushKing, said some bores across the district were reaching all time lows as the impact of the dry weather gained pace.  Stage one (20 per cent) restrictions have been re-introduced across the Waimea Plains and the Motupiko water catchment area. Permitted surface water users in the Moutere and Powley Creek are required to cease taking water. Rainey River water users are currently on cut-back.

(The Nelson Mail, Wednesday, January 28, 2015)

GOLF CLUB SET TO SHARE

Nelson’s Waahi Taakaro golf course clubrooms could have helmets hanging alongside caps as the club looks to make the best use of its facilities by opening up to mountain bikers. But the potential clubroom merger has some members concerned about the future of the course.  The golf course is owned by the Nelson City Council, and the Waahi Taakaro Golf Club, the course’s primary user, owns the clubrooms. The club pays for the maintenance of the greens.  In a move to increase use and revenue, the golf club is looking to share its clubrooms with the Nelson Mountain Bike Club, and there have been murmurs that a mountainbike track through the course could follow.  Waahi Taakaro golf club president Peter Watson said the club supported the council’s moves to make better use of the Maitai Valley and open it up to other users.

(The Nelson Mail, Thursday, January 29, 2015)

FUNDS VITAL FOR SOCIAL HOUSING PLAN

A commitment to providing capital funding to community housing providers is needed if the Government plans to sell state houses to them, says the Nelson Tasman Housing Trust.  Yesterday Prime Minister John Key confirmed the Government plans to sell 1000 to 2000 state houses in the next year to be run by community housing providers. More sales were possible over the next few years.  Housing New Zealand owns 560 properties in Nelson and 154 in Tasman. Three earthquake-prone properties on Orchard St in Stoke will be demolished next month and one HNZ home is now for sale in Nelson under its divestment programme.  Nelson Tasman Housing Trust director Keith Preston said yesterday that the trust was hoping to benefit from future sales, though there needed to be more detail given on the plans.

AT A GLANCE

The state of social housing and how it will change:

*  Housing New Zealand would remain the biggest provider of social housing with at least 60,000 properties by 2017, compared to 68,000 now.

*  Housing subsidies cost $1.9 billion a year, with about $1.2 billion of that going on the accommodation supplement, and the other $700m going to the income-related rent subsidy that was being opened up to non-Housing NZ homes.

*  Around 60,000 people a year claim income-related rent subsidies.

*  The most common applicants for a state house are single adults or solo parents (71.2 per cent).

*  Auckland has the greatest demand, with just over half of social housing applications.

*  The Government would review another 3000 existing tenants over the next two years to see if they could be moved out of state houses and into their own homes or private rentals.  That would take the number of reviews to 5000.

*  What is income-related rent?

-  It is rent which is subsidised by the Government in order to make accommodation more affordable for those on low incomes.  It is calculated based on income.

-  A low income is considered to be an income below the "single, living alone" rate as determined by New Zealand Superannuation - the maximum is currently at $366.94 after tax.  If you qualify for income-related rent, the Government pays the difference between the rent you can pay and the normal market rates.

(The Nelson Mail, Thursday, January 29, 2015)

HOUSING INAFFORDABILITY ON THE RISE

Buying a house in Nelson has worsened in affordability by 5.5 per cent over the past year, and that was better than the rest of the country.  Regions with double digit worsening include Manawatu/Whanganui by 18.8 per cent; Auckland and Hawke’s Bay both 16.4 per cent, Central Otago/Lakes by 15.4 per cent and Waikato by 13 per cent, according to Massey University’s latest Home Affordability Report.  Nationally, housing was 14 per cent less affordable last year, said researcher professor Paul Gallimore.  Nelson did better than anyone else because house prices did not move a great deal during the year, and earnings stayed about the same, he said. Because Nelson prices were flat, and there was no reason to think they would change significantly, and with interest rates staying the same, it was likely to stay ‘‘more of the same’’ this year, he said.

(The Nelson Mail, Friday, January 30, 2015)

POTENTIAL RATE FALL MAY FIRE UP HOUSING MARKET

Borrowers can expect interest rates to be lower for longer and some fixed-term rates may come down significantly, fuelling an already hot housing market, economists say.  The Reserve Bank is leaving open whether the next move in interest rates may be ‘‘either up or down’’ after saying it would hold interest rates at 3.5 per cent ‘‘for some time’’.  Westpac Bank said that was a watershed shift in stance from December when the Reserve Bank said a further lift in rates was expected ‘‘at a later stage’’.  It has indicated a rise was the next move since the middle of 2013, but now there is a decent chance rates may be cut especially if the global economy turns down, though economists said any rate cuts were unlikely till the end of the year, if at all.

(The Nelson Mail, Friday, January 30, 2015)

MORTGAGE BOOM FUELS LOW-EQUITY HOME SALES

A mortgage lending boom has helped the supply of low-equity home loans to almost double in one year.  The latest statistics released by the Reserve Bank will be welcomed by first-home buyers, many of whom have struggled under the central bank’s new regime.  Banks are not allowed to issue more than 10 per cent of their new mortgage lending to borrowers with less than 20 per cent equity, known as a high loan-to-value ratio (LVR).  The figures show high LVR lending rose to $455 million in December, the highest level since the rules were introduced, and almost double the $251m available in December 2013.  Banks are highly cautious about sailing too close to the Reserve Bank’s limit, as it has threatened to suspend the licences of those which do not comply.  Thirty-five per cent of borrowers who managed to get a high-LVR loan were first-home buyers, up from 33 per cent in November and 29 per cent in October.  The proportion of property investors granted loans rose from 10.4 per cent to 11.9 per cent, while the proportion of owner-occupiers, excluding first-home buyers, declined.

(The Nelson Mail, Friday, January 30, 2015)

NELMAC ON THE MOVE

Nelmac’s Nelson branch is leaving its long-term premises in Vickerman St to keep up with the company’s growth. Its current location at Port Nelson had become too small for equipment and staff to work on. ‘‘It’s simply been a case of outgrowing the space we had,’’ says Nelmac marketing and communications manager Angela Mockett. Nelmac purchased premises in Bullen St in Tahunanui late last year and is in the process of refurbishing the site. It hopes to be in the new location by April or May. Nelmac’s Nelson branch has more than 100 staff, and the new location is ‘‘much bigger’’ than the current premises. ‘‘We are in a good growth phase,’’ says Mockett. The Vickerman St premises is back under the ownership of Port Nelson.

(The Nelson Mail, Saturday, January 31, 2015)

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK

Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.

Duke & Cooke Property News is a clipping service publication compiled by Duke & Cooke Ltd, valuation and property specialists. The information contained within this newssheet are excerpts of property-related articles from current local news sources. Full attribution is given for the source of the extracts in order that the reader may refer to the source articles for full information. As this publication is a clipping service only, the articles included do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Duke & Cooke, and these items are included impartially and objectively.