Fed hikes rates to highest since dot-com bubble. The central bank’s key overnight rate will rise to a range of 5.25% to 5.5%. That is higher than it has been in decades.
(www.washingtonexaminer.com)
🤑 MONEY COLLAPSE 💥
New Zealand's central bank is at the forefront of this interest rate fiddling game - since the early nineties. I'd say that many WEF policies are trialed here. Each of the leaders of parties is a WEF graduate, BTW.
Most banks devolve to a flexible rate if the homeowner doesn't fix it. It takes a bit of paperwork and phone-calling to do so. Many people ignore that they should fix the rate, because they are too busy in their day-to-day life.
We fixed ours, but my son (builder) didn't and he suffered a massive hike - at first he was round our place every night for dinner (and a beer) as a result. We did warn him, but who listens to boomer parents? NVM. He is hanging in there by working cash-jobs on Saturdays now.
This is in New Zealand? The type of rate is made very clear at closing, by law, and after 08, I can't imagine signing up for flexible. Here, if you have a flexible rate, you would have to refinance with a fixed rate.
In New Zealand one signs up for a fixed rate for 1, 2, 5 or even 10 years. Then it devolves back to flexible unless fixed again.
The problem is that the rates are different, so the 10 yr fix is far more expensive than say, the 1 yr rate. Sometimes the flexi-rate falls below those fixed rates as well. So, it is a crap shoot to pick for how long to fix the rate for, and the perception is that one pays for the luxury of fixing.
We guessed 5 yrs for a rate that was more expensive than the flexi-rate. Six months later, the flexi-rate shot above that rate - so we guessed right. We read the tealeaves correctly, I guess.
On the other hand, my son went with the cheapest rate available at the time, which was the flexi-rate, and got screwed.
How hard is it to open a bank there, because I can guarantee US banks make lots of money doing fixed rates. We have points and ppi (mortgage insurance, I think), but all that can be negotiated. Credit rating and down payment are key to a decent deal.
Massive foreclosures, in a down market, isn't a good business strategy. Empty houses get sold at a loss and houses deteriorate fast when they stand empty.
We just went through the process of opening a bank account for one of our kids. One needs two forms of photo ID, say a passport and a driver's license, but there are some other forms that they'll take like a birth certificate or a community services card from the government.
If one does not have those two forms of photo ID, then, one also needs a JP to sign a document that one is who one is. Kind of silly, but there it is. Furthermore one needs a letter addressed to one's address to verify that address.
Of course, the bank's discretion comes into play regarding credit rating. So the average pede starting out cannot immediately request a mortgage.