Business

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...

Photo: Marika Khabazi Officials have embarked on a salvage job now that a hydrogen truck building project with a US firm that had faced fraud charges in the US has gone off track. US company Hyzon has pulled out of Australia, leaving a deal to modify 20 trucks for Auckland company TR Group hanging. The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) helped fund the deal, so far putting in $2 million out of $8m of public money, and its partnership manager Richard Briggs is in meetings over other options. "Of course it's gone off track because Hyzon's closed the door," Briggs said. "So we're now working with TR to put it back on track and make sure those trucks do get on the road ... as soon as possible." Hyzon was charged in the US with misleading investors about its business relation...

Ben Buchanan with this year's pumpkin harvest. Photo: Foodstuffs A bountiful crop of pumpkins this year means prices have fallen, great news for consumers but not the best for growers. StatsNZs latest data shows pumpkin prices were down 57 percent in June compared to the same month last year. Foodstuffs North Island's Head of Meat and Produce Brigit Corson said whole crown pumpkins, one of New Zealand's most popular varieties with its large size offers a huge amount of value for customers. "It's fantastic to see pumpkins back on the shelf at great prices for Kiwis, Cyclone Gabrielle wiped out a lot of the crop in 2023 and they were in short supply leading to higher-than-normal prices "This year has been the complete opposite, with amazing growing conditions delivering huge yields, resul...

Hydrogen does not emit climate-damaging carbon like diesel or petrol. (File image) Photo: Marika Khabazi A deal to put 20 hydrogen-powered trucks on the road with $6 million of taxpayer funding has been upended - just days from the first two vehicles being delivered. The US company Hyzon was modifying diesel trucks in Australia for the New Zealand-owned truck leasing company TR Group, but has suddenly pulled out to focus on America. The first two trucks were due in New Zealand in early August. TR Group's group general manager Brendan King said the company got no advance warning, but no money had been lost. "Don't get me wrong, it's frustrating. We'd prefer this wasn't happening." This was not a blow to hydrogen power, and the company was "actually still very committed", he said. The Hyz...

If you're a Gen X-er, there's a chance that the prospect of retirement is starting to become a very real one for you. But are you ready? Gen X is now aged roughly 44 to 59 - a stage of life where Massey University associate professor Claire Matthews said plans for retirement started to crystallise in people's minds. "It starts to become a bit more real... 50 is really where it starts to hit. "When you're younger, you kind of know that you're going to retire, you know you're going to hit 65 and all this stuff is going to happen but it seems so far in the future. At 45 and particularly at 50, people start thinking really seriously about it." Are you on track? The first question for a lot of people is whether they are on the right path to be able to ever sign off from work. Research from the ...

Spring Sheep chief executive Nick Hammond at the Children, Baby and Maternity Expo in Shanghai, China. Photo: Supplied / Spring Sheep A New Zealand sheep milk company has scored a big win in China - gaining brand registration for its infant milk formula. It is only the second international sheep milk brand in the world to achieve this direct market access. The deal allows Waikato-based Spring Sheep to directly import and distribute infant formula to China - which long term will increase export volumes - and following two very challenging seasons, chief executive Nick Hammon said this deal was "highly significant and exciting". Spring Sheep has 15 suppliers milking 15,500 ewes and 25,000 lambs are expected to be born over the next month. Hammond has been in Shanghai at the country's larg...

First Retail Group managing director Chris Wilkinson said that a takeover with The Warehouse founder Sir Stephen Tindall at the helm could help restore the fortunes of the once dominant retail chain. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon An Australian private equity firm has made a bid of up to $590 million for The Warehouse retail group, with backing from the group's founder. The company said a fund run by Adamantem Capital had made an unsolicited, non-binding, indicative offer to takeover The Warehouse Group of $1.50 to $1.70 a share, compared to The Warehouse's closing price of $1.45 on Monday. It said The Warehouse founder Sir Stephen Tindall and interests associated with him, which control close to half the group's shares, supported the bid, but wanted to stay invested in the new company. "Si...

The woman had no other way to go home. Photo: 123rf / Katarzyna Bialasiewicz Photographee.eu A woman who was picked up from her home by a car dealer and driven an hour-and-a-half to see a vehicle - but not offered a lift home again, has had her loan balance wiped. The woman complained to Financial Services Complaints Ltd, a financial ombudsman service that deals with complaints that cannot be resolved directly between consumers and financial services providers. She had seen a car for sale in Auckland online but lived an hour-and-a-half away. She contacted the dealership and was told one of the staff could pick her and her daughter up and drive them into the city so she could look at the car. She had thought she would be driven back again but was told that the staff member would not. She...

Paywave's surcharges are catching the eye of the Commerce Commission. Photo: RNZ / Leonard Powell The Commerce Commission estimates Paywave is taking hundreds of millions of dollars out of New Zealanders' pockets each year. It is just a fraction of the one billion dollars a year Kiwis spend on merchant service fees using the Mastercard and Visa payment networks. The commission said Paywave's 2 percent surcharge is particularly high and it has a plan to slash fees. Commerce Commission chairperson John Small told Checkpoint there was a fee inside Visa and Mastercard networks. "It gets transferred from the merchant who sells you something, the merchants bank then passes this fee across to the cardholder's bank. "The effect of that is the merchant gets charged for it and it inflates the fee...