News - 28 April 2008

New Phone and Fax Numbers

Our NEW PHONE NUMBER is 579 4838 and NEW FAX NUMBER is 579 4395. Mobile and 0800 numbers are the same.

The Alpha Update

Managing Debt - Part 2

Another question I am asked increasingly is "What do I do when I don't think I can make the next mortgage (or loan) payment"?

The MOST IMPORTANT THING TO DO is not to panic, but TAKE ACTION EARLY! Lenders are much more able to help when they know about a situation early, rather than have a series of missed payments and no communication. Options at an early stage include moving the loan onto interest only or extending the loan term, or having a holiday from payments completely for a short period. However, if there is a history of missed payments and little communication, then any lender is going to be more reluctant to say "yes" to this type of request.

Remember, YOU are the best person to sell your house rather than the mortgagee. They don't want to sell your house, they just want their money back! Therefore, if you approach them early, and with a sensible plan, they will generally be very lenient if they can see you are making a realistic effort to sort things out.

Who do you know that needs help with managing their debt and/or developing a plan to take to a lender?? Get them to call Us Today on 021 676 747 or 0800 676 747. We Can Help!!

Food for Thought

"Life is hard. It’s even harder if you’re stupid." -- Anonymous

What's New??

• Lo doc loans to 80% LVR, No Doc loans to 55% LVR
• Continued tightening of criteria for non-bank lenders

If you or anyone you know wants to know more about any of these products, email Stuart@alphagroup.co.nz

Interest Rate and Currency Comments

"No Change" was the comment from the Reserve Bank last week when reviewing interest rates. However, despite the fact that they last changed the Official Cash Rate in July 2007, interest rates have climbed across the board by at least 0.7% since then because of the international cash crunch. So the reverse will also be true; effective rates will take a long time to come down again regardless of the Reserve Bank. Latest increases have come in the 3-5 year bracket, with Kiwibank promoting a loss-leading 2 year fixed rate of 9.29% (with a heap of special conditions attached).

The big move over the last couple of weeks has been the NZ/AUD cross rate, which has fallen from around 88 cents to 84 cents currently. This is a result of their inflation and interest rate rises over the past few weeks, which has made their currency stronger than ours. Longer term, expect the NZ dollar to depreciate against all our major trading partners. When and by how much remains the unknown question!

(See below for latest interest and exchange rates).

The Finance Markets

As of 8am on Monday 28 April 2008 the following Interest Rates applied:
Official cash rate 8.25% (stable)
90 day bill rate 8.91% (up slightly)
5 year swap rate 7.82% (down slightly)
NZ/US Dollar 0.7991 (stable)

Current Range of Interest Rates for home and investment mortgages as at 28 April 2008

Floating:
9.80 to 11.50% (stable)

Fixed For:
1 Year - 9.60% to 10.95% (stable)
2 Year - 9.29% to 10.65% (up slightly)
3 Year - 9.15% to 10.85% (up slightly)
4 Year - 9.10% to 10.35% (up slightly)
5 Year - 8.95% to 10.80% (up slightly)

For a complete table of interest and exchange rates, click here.

The information stated herein was correct at the time of release, but is subject to changes without notice.