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Photo: 123RF Higher-spending households are still feeling the biggest cost-of-living squeeze, but that may change next year, one economist says. The latest household cost price indexes show a 5.4 percent increase in costs in the 12 months to June, down from as 6.2 percent increase in the 12 months to March. That is ahead of the rate of inflation as measured by the consumer price index, which was 3.3 percent in the June quarter. The household cost price indexes show how inflation affects 13 different household groups, and a key difference from the CPI is that it includes the impact of interest payments. The CPI only includes the cost of building a new home. "Mortgage interest payments remain high, and continue to make a significant contribution to living costs for many households," consum...

Electrical work is required to be carried out by licensed workers. Photo: 123RF Consumers are being warned to stay away from unlicensed sparkies and not attempt to DIY their own electrical work. There have been six prosecutions against unregulated electricians so far this year. While there is no specific data on fires caused by unlicensed sparkies, figures up to last month from Fire and Emergency show there have been more than 900 fires caused by electrics in homes, garages and sheds. Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment Manager of Investigations Kathryn Young told Checkpoint they are noticing a rise in would-be sparkies. "I've got some stats for the last couple of years and we've had 51 complaints in the the 2022-2023 year and 65 in the 2023-2024 year." Young said they had ...

Nearly 40,000 townhouses have been built since 2016. Photo: Supplied Changing taste and cheaper prices for buyers and better value for developers are driving the townhouse building boom. CoreLogic's latest report shows 39,600 townhouses have been built across the country since 2016, with more than half in Auckland. It said that accounts for 45 percent of all new dwelling consents recently, compared to just 6 percent in 2012. Chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said it was hard to tell if potential buyers wanted townhouses or if that was what developers are choosing to build - or if it was a bit of both. "Society's tastes have been changing a little bit, people wanting perhaps smaller dwellings without having to worry about maintaining a big section, so that's been part of it. "But ...

Photo: Consumer confidence has picked up and is suggesting the worst of the economic downturn may be coming to an end. The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence index gained five points in July to 88 points, which remained deeply pessimistic. ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner said consumers were still doing it tough because of high costs of living and interest rates. "It's still very low, but has clawed back about half the March-April fall that coincided with 'recession' headlines. The lift was driven by improving expectations rather than the here and now." The survey's future conditions index, which asks about future prospects and expectations, was higher with 20 percent of respondents expecting to be better off next year. Consumers were also more upbeat about the economic outlook in the...