Cairns Lockie Mortgage Commentary

Issue 12 9 July 1999

Welcome to the twelfth issue of the Cairns Lockie Mortgage Commentary. This is a fortnightly electronic newsletter which aims to keep you informed on developments at Cairns Lockie, Mortgage Bankers and the mortgage market in general.

Previous issues of this commentary (and details on our product features) can be found on our website www.emortgage.co.nz

The Money Market

This morning (8am on 9 July) the money markets are at the following levels:

Official cash rate 4.50%

90 day bill 4.72

1 year swap rate 5.16

3 year swap rate 6.36

10 year bond 6.59

Kiwi dollar 0.5255

Fed Increases Wholesale Interest Rates

Last Friday as expected The Federal Reserve raised wholesale interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point from 4.75% to 5.0%. This increase had been widely anticipated and was largely the reason why wholesale interest rates have increased over the past two or three weeks. This increase ap pears to have had little effect on the United States economy. After the announcement, both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite Indices reached record highs. Consumer confidence is also running at a record thirty year high.

Following the announcement our longer-term bonds rallied but subsequently returned to last week's levels.

Housing Activity Still Improving

According to the July BNZ economic report, May was another good month for dwelling sales with numbers up by 35% from a year earlier. Sales in the three months to May were up by 29.4%. Year ended sales numbers reached 77,666. This was up by 2.5% and the first positive rate of change in this measure since January 1997.

The reasons for this are the low relative mortgage rates together with a small but general improvement in economic conditions.

Cairns Lockie to Provide Sponsorship of the Auckland Collier Cup Team

This is the premier tournament for girls' hockey. We are very pleased to be sponsoring the Auckland team. The competition for this cup is intense and we are hoping the Auckland team will do well. We will provide you with regular updates of their progress.

Securitisation Becoming More Popular

Cairns Lockie, as many of you are aware, obtains its funding through a process called securitisation. This is where mortgage backed securities are sold in the capital markets. It is a very common way of funding mortgages overseas, and is likely to become a popular option here. As reported in the NZ Herald last Tuesday, Westpac has launched its first New Zealand home loan securitisation vehicle to raise NZ$825 million.

Our current interest rates are as follows

Variable rate 5.85%

Two-year fixed rate 7.05

Three-year fixed rate 7.55

Five-year fixed rate 8.15

Line of credit facility 6.25

Equity accelerator 6.25

Cairns Lockie Limited

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