The SME Stream

New Zealand’s housing market remains firmly in buyers’ favour. 

Sales activity is continuing to weaken and property values are showing little sign of a broad-based recovery. 

But, while first-home buyers remain active, investors are pulling back, with some wary of what a shifting political and tax environment could mean for returns. 

So, what’s really going on here? Is this just a subdued patch, or a market that’s lost its heat for longer? 

Today on The Front Page, Cotality NZ Chief Property Economist Kelvin Davidson is with us to unpack where housing stands right now, and what it all means for buyers, sellers and investors. 

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You can read more about this and other stories in the New Zealand Herald, online at nzherald.co.nz, or tune in to news bulletins across the NZME network.

Host: Chelsea Daniels
Editor/Producer: Richard Martin
Producer: Jane Yee

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Taxing the super-rich has been tried overseas and hasn't always worked out, one expert says. 

The Greens have set their wealth tax rate at 2.5%, but Treasury modelling suggests it could shrink the taxable wealth base by more than 40%.  

The party's own modelling puts the reduction at about 28%.  

Dentons tax partner Bruce Bernacchi told Kerre Woodham if introduced, we'd be only one of five countries that have it. 

He says in 1990 there were 12 countries in the OECD that had a wealth tax, and there are just four today. 

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NZME’s head of business content previews an excellent 28-page Agribusiness lift-out in the NZ Herald, where subjects as wide-ranging as global trade, AI, ag emissions, weight loss drugs and politics are covered. 

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$20trillion of debt is set to be issued in 2026, about two thirds of that is from governments.'

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Climate Change Commission CE Jo Hendy on what changes are needed to unlock investment and help businesses decarbonise

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Borrowers' pockets may feel the most impact from more regular inflation reports.  

From next July, Stats NZ will phase in monthly Consumer Price Index reporting on top the current quarterly reports.  

Statistics Minister Scott Simpson says it'll keep businesses, households, and decision-makers, like the Reserve Bank, better-informed.  

The Herald's Liam Dann told Kerre Woodham it will also mean interest rates can be more up-to-date.  

He says the Reserve Bank currently decide rates on a three-month lag. 

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Professor Anita Wreford discusses how El Nino could reshape costs, commodity prices and investment decisions.

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Satellite-to-mobile coverage - Starlink, AST SpaceMobile, Amazon all chasing a bigger slice of the market. Chris Keall Herald Technology Editor.

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New Zealand is bringing its inflation reporting into the modern era. 

People will be able to access the data monthly from July next year, as part of a major upgrade to the country’s economic statistics.  

Stats NZ says the move provides a more current view of price changes across the economy, rather than it being reported every quarter.  

Statistics Minister Scott Simpson told Mike Hosking we're catching up with the rest of the world. 

He says New Zealand is an outlier in this space, and we might be the only country in the OECD that has yet to report monthly.  

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News from OpenAI, that two of its advanced models got out of a sandbox system, seems like proof of their power and our difficulty controlling it.

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