We're keeping it short and sweet this month—but we do have a couple of goodies to share.
Interest rates are back in the spotlight again.
Funny how quickly things can change.
At the start of the year, the market thought our first OCR increase might not arrive until December. Fast forward a few months and July is now looking far more likely, with expectations the OCR could reach 3.00% by year end as the Reserve Bank works to keep inflation under control.
It’s a bit of a tricky balancing act for them right now—GDP is likely negative for the current quarter, while inflation looks set to spike.
On the “positive” side for the RBNZ, banks have already moved to increase fixed mortgage rates quite a bit – meaning some of the tightening has already happened before they’ve even acted.
The upside for you? We’re expecting returns on Squirrel investments to increase as we move through the year.
Looking beyond the loan
When we lend money, we’re not just looking at the property or the numbers – we’re also thinking about the borrower and what they’re actually trying to achieve.
In the construction space, we recently commissioned research into the “downsizing” phase and what it means for the types of homes being built. Downsizing typically refers to empty nesters moving out of the family home and into something smaller.
We presented the findings to a large group of home builders and property developers on 19 May, which was also covered by Stuff.
You can download the full research report here.
Getting invested is now much quicker
One thing that’s changed quite a bit since the start of the year is the supply of quality loans available to invest in.
We’ve successfully ramped things up, which means investors using Term Investments can now generally get invested straight away.
A quick heads-up on selling Term Investments
Of course, there’s a flip side to more investment opportunities being available. Because investor demand is now more balanced, it will likely take longer to sell Term Investments than it did previously.
So, if you are planning to sell, we recommend loading your sale request at least two weeks before you need the funds back.
A little planning goes a long way here.
Know someone who should join Squirrel?
You might’ve seen that we have a campaign running offering new investors $20 when they join Squirrel and make their first deposit.
If you’ve got friends or family who might benefit from Squirrel, now’s the time—the offer closes on 31 May*.
No promo codes required. They simply register and make their first deposit.
Questions, comments, ideas?
As always, if there’s something we’re doing well - or something we could be doing better - I’m always keen to hear it. Get in touch at dave@squirrel.co.nz.
*Terms and conditions apply
