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It feels pretty clear we're at the top of the current interest rate cycle. But with one more Official Cash Rate announcement to come for the year, what are the expectations for interest rates come 2024?

With good job security and sizeable deposits, first home buyers have jumped boots and all into the housing market since early this year. But with extra buyers set to appear in the near future, is time working against first home buyers?

For many Kiwi voters, National's win in the recent election probably didn’t come as too much of a surprise — and you can bet that National’s focus, especially over the next 12 months, will be on driving through policies that are designed to bolster the New Zealand economy. So what will this all mean for homeowners and borrowers?

Central banks the world over have a bit of a bad habit of reactionary decision making. After overstimulating the economy big time when the pandemic hit by dropping rates to record lows, they were much too slow to jack rates up again when inflation started running rampant. And it's created such a big mess that Squirrel guest blogger, Rodney Dickens, reckons we're in for an extended battle to get us out of it again.

The recent migration boom and rising construction costs have contributed to the growth in house prices — but what are the other factors causing them to rise, and how long will prices continue to increase?

Price changes have now entered the upward leg of the house price cycle, and the demand coming from first home buyers which has created this situation is now being boosted by investors returning to the market. But will the end of the upcoming election bring huge changes to the housing market?

New Zealand has narrowly escaped the technical recession that was called a few months back — but Kiwi households are still feeling the pressure from high interest rates. So with an Official Cash Rate (OCR) announcement on the cards for 4th October, what’s likely to happen with mortgage rates from here?

The results of ANZ's business confidence survey have been tracking upwards in recent months — but does that have more to do with what we're expecting from election day, than it does with the actual state of our economy? Rodney Dickens explains in his latest article.

Young buyers are back in the market after being encouraged by lower house prices, greater listings numbers, higher deposits after 2-3 years of holding back from buying, a view that interest rates have about peaked, and a strong labour market bringing rising wages and high job security. So have investors joined them, and is FOMO back?

The coming weakness in our economy would imply at a minimum no recovery in the housing market and maybe a continuation of the weakness since late-2021. But there are many other factors in play — so will the recently developed upward momentum continue into 2024?

As New Zealand holds its collective breath, waiting for interest rates to start falling again, here are the key OCR announcement dates you need in your diary for 2023 and 2024.

Fixed mortgage interest rates are unlikely to show any meaningful decline until very late in the year. Will that continue on through to 2024, or will it be a year of falling house prices, rental market pressure and higher selling prices?