Business

Trade Me Property said more than a third of New Zealanders would rather browse unaffordable property listings than watch rugby. Photo: 123RF About one in eight Kiwi adults would rather go online and look at houses they cannot afford than have sex, a new survey has found. Trade Me Property said more than a third would rather browse unaffordable property listings than watch rugby and more than half preferred it to looking for a partner on a dating site. With New Zealand having some of the least affordable housing in the developed world and [https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/07/22/home-ownership-rates-fall-below-60-report/ fewer people living in their own houses in almost a century, Trade Me's survey found more than half - 59 percent - of adults admitted scrolling through listings of homes they...

The BNZ-Business New Zealand Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) rose 1.4 points in August to 45.8 points. Photo: 123RF Manufacturing sector activity has improved slightly, but remains deeply in contraction. The BNZ-Business New Zealand Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) rose 1.4 points in August to 45.8 points, its 18th consecutive month in contraction. BNZ senior economist Doug Steel said the sector had been struggling but the PMI indicated what was happening in the real economy, despite recent improvements in confidence surveys, and conditions in the sector remained challenging. "Our economic forecasts remain for the manufacturing sector to turn when the broader economy turns." The PMI's five sub-indices were all in contraction, but showed signs of improvement notably in p...

ANZ and Westpac are offering a special rate of 5.79 percent for two years. Photo: RNZ / 123rf Home loan rates are now comfortably below 6 percent on two-year terms, which have historically been a favourite of New Zealand borrowers. But opinions are mixed on whether they will prove a good option over the longer term. ANZ and Westpac are offering a special rate of 5.79 percent for two years. ASB and BNZ are offering 5.89 percent, and Kiwibank 5.99 percent. According to Reserve Bank data, the last time two-year rates were below 6 percent was in September 2022. ANZ senior economist Chris Tennent-Brown said the home loan rates were attractive. "Short term rates will need to drop significantly to make it worth paying the higher floating rates or six-month rate now. Splitting rates over differ...

Analysts are warning that net inflows of migrants could fall faster than expected. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi High immigration numbers have been "papering the cracks" of the New Zealand economy, analysts say, and now that they are dropping fast, it is likely to add to the slowdown. Data on Wednesday showed the international migration rate fell to an additional 13 people per 1000 already here in the year to July, compared to 26 per 1000 in October last year. Stats NZ population indicators manager Tehseen Islam said the rate last year had been the highest since the late 1870s. Islam said 13 per 1000 was still high by international standards. ASB senior economist Mark Smith said the rate was back to the level of early 2023, and there was a risk that net inflows of migrants would fall fast...

In New Zealand, people either dislike wealthy people, or admire them, says Rod Duke. The majority share-holder and managing director of Briscoe Group shared his thoughts as part of RNZ's series, RICH: The meaning of wealth in Aotearoa. When Rod Duke became the boss of the Briscoe Group in 1988, it was illegal to sell most things on Sundays. Duke was willing to test the authorities' mettle to enforce that law. "We thought: 'What are the fines? How can I get prosecuted? What's the likelihood? How do I tell people that I'm going to be open on Sundays? How do I convince my staff to work?'" They went for it, and before long Briscoes was doing the equivalent of a month's trading on each Sunday alone. The Labour government of the time, which was in the midst of sweeping economic deregulation, was...

The older generation can suffer financially by allowing their adult children to live at home, experts say. (File photo) Photo: 123RF It is becoming more common for young people to stay living with their parents for longer - but it can be an expensive mistake for the older generation, one retirement planning expert says. The number of households with adult children has grown by more than 100,000 since 2004 - the fastest growth of any type of household. We have crunched the numbers to look at what it might be adding to the household bills. In some cases, having extra adults in the house can add thousands of dollars a year. Otago University researchers estimate the cost of food around the country each year. Their most recent estimates show that at a national level, a man with a "moderate...

Port Taranaki is in talks with its staff following the announcement from Methanex. Photo: Supplied / Port Taranaki The announcement of 70 potential job losses at Methanex's plant in Taranaki is sending shock waves through the region, with Port Taranaki already in talks with its staff about reconfiguring its business. Methanex, which uses gas to produce methanol for export, said policy settings had not been conducive to securing sustainable gas supply for its business since 2018. About 300 people work at Methanex's Motunui plant, but when a deal to sell its gas supply to electricity generators Genesis and Contact Energy ends later this year that number could take a hit. The Canadian-based multinational has told staff that rather than firing up two production plants it wanted to scale bac...

Many are needing to turn to second jobs to pay the bills. Photo: 123RF From police officers to IT workers, people are picking up second jobs to make ends meet. As part of Checkpoint's series Crunching the Numbers, we're drilling into the detail of people's finances and this week, we've spoken to people with full-time jobs who are burning out because they're having to find side hustles to stay financially afloat. Avinash Kaur Dhaliwal works for an IT company in Auckland and on top of her full-time job, she became a marriage celebrant to help pay for extra expenses. She said the money from her second job goes towards everyday needs like groceries, petrol and public transport costs, as half price fares have now ended in Auckland. "Nowadays we've reduced our expenses so much, before we us...

Photo: 123RF Inflation pressures are showing more signs of easing, but consumers still look reluctant to spend to any extent. A slew of Stats NZ data showed food prices rose 0.2 percent in August on July, but the annual rate eased to 0.4 percent. Higher prices for eating out, takeaways, and groceries were the main drivers behind the annual gain of 3.6 percent, while fruit and vegetable prices fell 12.2 percent . Among groceries olive oil, butter and chocolate were notable price rises. "The average price of a 250g block of chocolate has increased 20 percent since this time last year," consumer prices manager James Mitchell said. World olive oil supplies and prices have been affected by bad weather in Europe, while chocolate prices have surged on the back of disease, drought, and reduced s...

Photo: Supplied Waikato dairy co-operative Tatua plans to double production of its cream-based products with a new factory expansion. The farmer-owned co-op has invested $85 million into the construction project its board first approved in April. Tatua manufactured products like sour cream and mascarpone from milk supplied by 101 farms within a 12-kilometre radius of the factory. It exported around 90 percent of what it produced there to top export markets China and Japan. Chief executive Brendhan Greaney said there was more demand in New Zealand and abroad than it could supply. "This is quite a significant investment for us, at circa 85 million [dollars], it's our largest investment to date," Greaney said. "We're essentially doubling the capacity of what we call our foods plant and that...