A case in which a man lost access to $11,000 of cryptocurrency has prompted a warning that some people might not realise the limits around access.
The man complained to the Insurance and Financial Ombudsman scheme.
He had created a cryptocurrency wallet and shortly afterwards was targeted by scammers who instructed him to open it and transfer the cryptocurrency to them.
When his bank alerted him to the scam, he stopped the transfers with $11,000 remaining in the digital wallet.
When he tried to access it later he was unable to do so. He was asked to use a back-up file but could not find it.
He told IFSO the platform should reimburse him. He said he was not adequately informed about the need to back-up the wallet and there were no clear warnings or prompts about the risks, he said.
Insurance and Financial Services Ombudsman Karen Stevens said crypto platforms had an obligation under the Consumer Guarantees Act to exercise reasonable care and skill.
The IFSO scheme looked at the information and prompts shown during the wallet set-up process, additional information available through links on the setup screens, the platform’s actions the issue was reported, and the platform’s terms of use.
She said, during set-up, the app displayed screens explaining that the wallet should be backed up, the back-up was the only way to recover funds if access was lost, and the platform could not access or restore wallets on behalf of customers.
The set-up screens also included links to further information explaining how wallet back-ups worked and the consequences of not completing one.
“We found no evidence that the platform failed to exercise reasonable care and skill. The information about backing up the wallet was presented during set-up, and additional explanations were readily available.
“We also noted that the platform took reasonable steps to assist [the man] once the issue was identified, but recovery was not possible without a back-up file. The platform’s terms clearly stated that customers are responsible for backing up their wallets and safeguarding access.”
The complaint was not upheld.
Alex Sims, a professor in the department of commercial law at the University of Auckland and an associate at the UCL centre for blockchain technologies, said people probably did not realise the limits on accessing cryptocurrencies and education was needed.
‘Although it does depend on the platform being used as many cryptocurrency platforms will hold and control the cryptocurrency, but this platform didn’t do this.”
Stevens said cryptocurrency platforms were different from traditional banking services and it was vital that people paid close attention to the set-up instructions.
Internationally, there have been cases where people have accidentally lost access to their crypto wallets, and lots millions of dollars.
An association of local businesses, Destination KRL, said hospitality and other water-dependent employers had lost – on average – more than half their customers in the last two weeks.
They have called for support from Wellington City Council.
Worst timing possible
On a warm, still summer evening at Wellington’s Lyall Bay, the usually bustling beach is deserted.
Co-owner of nearby Botanist cafe Maria Boyle said the sunny weather – especially following a storm in the capital – would usually see her cafe packed with customers.
“With this weather everybody gets out, they’re excited, the weather’s nice. We would be completely full right now and we’ve got, maybe, a quarter of the amount of tables we’d normally have.”
Maria Boyle of the Botanist cafe her daytime customers have halved since the plant failed.Bill Hickman / RNZ
She said daytime customers had nearly halved since the plant failed.
Boyle said – for her business – the closure of the beaches could not have come at a worse time.
“We essentially rely on this busy summer trade to get us through winter. Last winter was the worst winter we’ve ever had. For this to happen – after the last two years of terrible hospitality – it’s a disaster.”
Further down the beach, local fish and chip shop Seaview Takeaways had been feeding beachgoers for nearly 34 years. Owner Vicky Shen said in the last two weeks they had lost nearly 70 percent of their business.
She had planned to cut staff hours to stay afloat.
“I have to deal with it. So I will cut down some hours of my labour. I will do it myself. So I will work longer myself – so that’s very difficult – but otherwise I can’t afford it.”
Surfboard maker Jack Candlish of Verdure Surf builds his boards within sight of the city’s most popular surf break – right next to Wellington Airport and Moa Point.
Surfboard builder Jack Candlish says he’s considering relocating if the closure of the beaches “drags on”.Bill Hickman / RNZ
He usually sold just over a third of his boards to locals, but said he had not received a single local inquiry since news of the contamination of the surf spot broke.
“If it drags on much longer we’ll probably look at relocating. It’s something that we’ve already thought about doing but this has been a bit of a kick to, kind of, fast-track that process.
“We might as well be in Palmerston North as far as I’m concerned, when the beach isn’t even accessible.”
Another massive mountain to climb
Steve Walters of Destination KRL said he had heard from about 30 businesses in the area reporting dramatic losses over the last fortnight.
He said people in the beachside suburb paid some of the highest rates in the country, and if a solution could not be put in place quickly the council should step in to help.
“We’ve got government workers being reduced in this town and people being pretty tight with their money. Now on top of that a combination of entities have failed in providing a service which these businesses have paid for, so they’re feeling ‘we’ve just suddenly got another massive mountain to climb’ and they need support to get over that.”
A spokesperson for Wellington City Council said they had been in touch with business leaders in the area and were looking at how best to support affected businesses. But the council could not provide details of any plans at this stage.
“We appreciate the Moa Point plant failure will be having an impact on the South Coast, in particular some of the businesses in Lyall Bay,” a spokesperson said.
“We want to encourage Wellingtonians to get down to Lyall Bay, especially on a good day, and pay the cafes and other businesses a visit and spend some money.”
Wellington Water said it could be months before the plant was back in operation.
Designed as the next milestone in Infinix’s flagship journey, the NOTE 60 SERIES elevates the brand’s signature NOTE line with a sharper focus on flagship-class performance, expressive design, and immersive everyday experiences that go beyond expectations.
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 18 February 2026 – At its annual flagship showcase, Infinix today unveiled the NOTE 60 SERIES, featuring the NOTE 60 Pro and NOTE 60—demonstrating a new chapter in delivering premium technology experiences to global users.
Infinix NOTE 60 Pro
Advancing design and performance within its class, the NOTE 60 Pro marks a significant milestone as Infinix’s first smartphone built on the Snapdragon® 7s Gen 4 Mobile Platform, delivering exceptional responsiveness and seamless multitasking that befits flagship-level performance.
It further elevates everyday experiences with an avant-garde Active Matrix Display that stays invisible when inactive, yet transforms into a dynamic interface for personalized interactivity, intelligent notifications, and on-screen entertainment—expanding what a smartphone can do in everyday life. Paired with a fluid 144Hz 1.5K Ultra HDR Cinematic Display and immersive SOUND BY JBL, the NOTE 60 Pro sets a new benchmark for premium multimedia experiences within its segment, proving that exceptional technology can be both powerful and pleasurable.
“NOTE 60 SERIES is our annual flagship showcase—an ‘all‑out’ blockbuster created with industry leaders,” said Tony Zhao, CEO of Infinix. “Embracing a whole-series 5G strategy, we are bringing together the best of performance, design, and entertainment—from our first NOTE powered by Snapdragon from Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., to premium design craftsmanship with Pininfarina, and immersive SOUND BY JBL. This ensures we deliver a pleasurable, fun experience that lets our global consumers actively enjoy the best modern technology.”
Performance Without Compromise with Snapdragon
The NOTE 60 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon® 7s Gen 4 Mobile Platform, delivering robust multitasking and exceptional gaming efficiency with up to 75%¹ faster CPU performance and 210%¹ improved GPU rendering compared to the NOTE 50 Pro. Infinix and Qualcomm Technologies have collaborated for the NOTE 60 Pro, integrating Infinix’s proprietary performance engine to fully harness the hardware’s capabilities. These optimizations deliver up to 25%¹ enhancement in multitasking performance, significantly faster app launch speeds, and a smoother, more stable experience when switching between apps during heavy use.
Powered by its strong Snapdragon chipset, the NOTE 60 Pro takes gaming performance even further, delivering smooth high‑frame‑rate gameplay across popular titles. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang and Honor of Kings run up to 120 FPS, ensuring ultra‑responsive, fluid action even during intense team battles. To maintain consistent performance, the NOTE 60 Pro also introduces an upgraded 3D IceCore Vapor Chamber cooling system featuring a 0.36 mm copper sheet that directs heat from the chipset to the vapor chamber, reducing temperature by up to 3 °C¹ during intense gaming for stable, sustained performance.
Active Matrix Display: Functionality Through Design
Featured on the back of the NOTE 60 Pro, the all-new Active Matrix Display represents a major design innovation for the NOTE SERIES.
This miniature, interactive LED interface stays invisible until activated, then instantly lights up to show smart notifications, animated pets, or mini-games. It enables at-a-glance information, versatile alerts, and moments of playful interaction. Users can personalize it with custom signatures, emojis, or dynamic patterns, giving users a creative outlet to express their personality and emotions, and turning the phone into a more emotionally connected personal companion.
Built around a robust one-piece frame of high-strength aluminum alloy with a refined micro-matte texture, the NOTE 60 Pro delivers a sophisticated, high-end feel while offering durable practicality and dependable IP64 protection² against dust, splashes, and everyday wear. Infinix NOTE 60 SERIES introduces multiple practical functions on the robust middle frame, including the new One‑Tap Button providing instant, customizable activation of Silent Mode or tools like the flashlight. It also features an industry-exclusive Advanced Health Monitor, providing proactive wellness tracking of key vitals like heart rate, blood oxygen, and long-term HRV to deliver actionable health insights.
Immersive Entertainment: A Stunning 1.5K Display Paired with SOUND BY JBL
The NOTE 60 Pro is engineered for an immersive, all-day comfortable audiovisual experience. It features a vivid 1.5K display with ultra-slim bezels, reaching 4500 nits peak brightness for visibility in any light and a 144Hz refresh rate for ultra-smooth visuals. The display is designed for extended viewing comfort, featuring motion sickness prevention technology, which helps users stay comfortable while reading, watching videos, or gaming when commuting or traveling. Last but not least, NOTE 60 Pro is protected by durable Corning® Gorilla® Glass 7i, and this visual excellence is complemented by a high-fidelity stereo sound system with SOUND BY JBL, to complete a truly compelling entertainment experience.
Capture Anything, Day or Night: The Pro-Grade Camera Setup
At the core of the Infinix NOTE 60 Pro’s imaging system is the exclusive 50MP OIS Night Master Camera, engineered to deliver crystal-clear photos and stable videos even in low light. Paired with a 112° ultrawide sensor, the system effortlessly captures everything from expansive landscapes to group portraits.
The device marks a major leap in imaging with Infinix’s first Ultra HDR pipeline, enabling full-chain HDR imaging, from capture and processing to display for brilliant, true-to-life photos. This high-end shooting mode preserves details in shadows and highlights that standard shots often miss, resulting in greater dynamic contrast range and rendering everything from daylight to neon with perfect clarity. Complementing this, the new Live Photo mode captures life as it happens and turns every photo into a vivid, pocket-sized memory.
Rounding out the professional imaging suite are intelligent features like 2x Lossless Portrait Zoom for studio-quality framing, 4K Ultra-Steady Video recording³ with creative filters, and the Infinix AI Studio for effortless, intelligent editing.
All-Day Power, Intelligent Care
The NOTE 60 Pro features a battery capacity up to 6500mAh⁴, a substantial 25%¹ increase over its predecessor. This provides ample power to support all-day browsing, messaging, and gameplay. To ensure power and performance are maintained in the long run, Infinix combines the increased energy density with an industry-first active healing system that automatically repairs internal battery materials in the long term, extending the battery longevity up to 200 cycles over time and ensuring at least 6 years of effective, hassle-free battery performance. The NOTE 60 Pro keeps you charged with 90W wired and 30W wireless⁵ charging. For the fastest wireless experience, an Infinix MagCharge phone case⁵ is included to guarantee perfect alignment. This gives you both the speed and the flexible convenience to power up seamlessly throughout your day.
Infinix NOTE 60: Flagship Implementation with Greater Accessibility
A design similar in high-end refinement to the NOTE 60 Pro’s graces Infinix NOTE 60, another 5G phone featuring a premium metal frame, a 1.5K Ultra HDR display at up to 144Hz, and exceptional battery capacity with advanced charging and longevity management. It’s built around the ultra-efficient MediaTek Dimensity 7400 Ultimate 5G mobile platform and delivers true 5G performance. The NOTE 60 sports many of the quality features common to the latest NOTE lineup, including Active Halo notification lighting, highly optimized system-level software, and the 3D IceCore Vapor Chamber cooling system. It retains the 50MP OIS Night Master Cam and Live Photo mode of NOTE 60 Pro, promising fun memory capture, editing, organization, and sharing with family, friends, and more.
Beyond “Pro”: Expanding the NOTE 60 SERIES
As a key step in its flagship journey, Infinix also previewed the NOTE 60 Ultra, marking a bold move into the premium segment. Designed by Pininfarina, the NOTE 60 Ultra introduces breakthroughs in form and delivers comprehensive upgrades in imaging, performance, and connectivity—representing the pinnacle of performance and experience within the NOTE 60 SERIES. More details about the NOTE 60 Ultra will be announced at a later date.
Demonstrating Infinix’s commitment to long‑term user support, the entire NOTE 60 SERIES comes equipped with the upgraded XOS 16, offering three generations of XOS platform upgrades and five years of security patches⁶. In addition, the whole series also supports eSIM connectivity⁷, providing users with greater flexibility and convenience in managing their mobile network experience.
Product availability
NOTE 60 Pro is available in five colors:* Mist Titanium, Solar Orange, Deep Ocean Blue, Mocha Brown, Frost Silver, Torino Black (Design by Pininfarina)*
It will be available in three variants:* 8GB + 128GB, 8GB + 256GB, 12GB + 256GB
NOTE 60 is available in five colors:* Mist Titanium, Rose Gold, Fizz Blue, Midnight Black, Mocha Brown
It will be available in two variants:* 8GB + 128GB, 8GB + 256GB
*Availability may vary by country/region. The Turino Black (Design by Pininfarina) will be released at a later date. Please consult local retailers and third-party shopping websites for more purchasing options.
*Available storage and RAM are less than the total memory due to storage of the operating system and software pre-installed on the device.
Price and availability vary between markets and sales channels. Please refer to the Infinix Official website for product availability and detailed regional sales information.
Disclaimer
Snapdragon is a trademark or registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Snapdragon is a product of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
¹All data comes from Infinix laboratories. The testing data may vary slightly between different test versions and testing environments.
²The phone is dustproof and splash-proof under normal use. Under controlled laboratory conditions, its performance can reach IP64 level under IEC 60529 standard. Differences exist between real-life scenarios. Any damage caused to the phone by immersion in liquid is not covered under the warranty.
³Record at up to 4K 30 fps, with ultra-steady stabilization and a wide range of creative filters.
⁴Battery capacity and configurations may vary by market.
⁵MagCharge requires using the Infinix-branded magnetic attachment phone case.
⁶The specific XOS upgrade plan for each model will be announced separately. Please note that availability of this upgrade may be limited in certain countries.
⁷eSIM availability is carrier and region-dependent; it may not be supported in all countries.
Hashtag: #Infinix
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
The peninsula remained under a state of emergency although State Highway 75 from Christchurch to Akaroa reopened on Wednesday afternoon and telecommunications were restored after widespread outages.
About 120 properties remained without power and at least 15 local roads were closed because of slips and flooding.
Kinloch farmer Tom Power said the “mental” rain caused the worst flooding he had ever seen.
Kinloch Road farm in Little River was flooded.Nathan Mckinnon
“I’ve never seen anything like it. It was predicted to be 100 millimetres or so and we ended up tipping out 430 millimetres in this catchment. It was chaos,” he said.
“I’ve never seen anything through Little River like that before and even up Okuti Valley, properties up there. It’s so widespread, it’s unbelievable.”
Power was dealing with stock losses as paddocks remained under water, with troughs and fences swept away and debris strewn across the property.
“We moved a lot of stock away to traditionally high areas that we’ve never seen go under water. We spent hours doing that beforehand and we were prepared for a lot of it, it was just the severity,” he said.
Flood damage in Little River.Nathan Mckinnon
“We’re still trying to get our head around what the damage is, to be fair, until the water goes away you don’t really know.
“People’s livelihoods have been well and truly affected by this, which is a crying shame.”
In Little River, Déjà New Preloved Goods owner Lisa Ashfield had cleared mud and silt from her shop with the help of firefighters – the second time her business had flooded in 12 months.
Flood damage at Deja New in Little River.Nathan Mckinnon
“I imagine this is probably the end of the shop,” she said.
“All of my furniture, my bookshelves, my storage units, people’s home-made jewellery, toys, books, clothes, furniture. Everything is just a mudbath,” she said.
“I was flooded in May last year, about 300 millimetres, over the top of your gumboots kind of level. This flood, unfortunately, was thigh-deep. All the preparation we did on Monday, raising everything off the floor, just wasn’t high enough,” she said.
Déjà New Preloved Goods Little River owner Lisa Ashfield said she’d been flooded twice in 12 months.Nathan Mckinnon/RNZ
Ashfield was now sorting through stock to work out what to throw in a skip.
Little River Cafe & Store owner Cameron Gordon also spent the day shovelling mud and silt from the building after water gushed in on Tuesday.
He said food from the chiller had to be thrown away and fridges and freezers would need replacing but he hoped to open the store by the end of the day and the cafe by the weekend.
Little River Cafe and Store.Nathan Mckinnon
Gordon was heartened by the support of locals who were helping to clean up the mess.
“They’re pretty keen to get the shop back going and get us up and running again. We got a lot of calls, a lot of messages overnight with people offering help, a lot of tools brought down, water blasters, squeegees and brooms and random people I haven’t met before. It’s great,” he said.
Gordon said the cafe had flooded five times, most recently last May when a foot of water washed through some businesses, but he had never seen flooding so bad in his 20 years living in the settlement.
He said water in Little River drained away quickly once Lake Forsyth was opened to the sea on Tuesday afternoon.
Outside the shop on Wednesday.Nathan Mckinnon
“If it was opened before this I think we would have had a lot less damage and probably a lower level through the building,” he said.
“[The council] seem to have their rules and their guidelines about how they monitor all that but it doesn’t seem to work for us. It seems to be the same story every year, with the same excuses every year as well.”
Living Streams Community Nursery co-ordinator Nicky Steinmetz said raging floodwaters had left a layer of silt over the plants, leaving a months-long clean-up job.
“Most of our volunteers will be really upset about what they see. It’s the small seedlings that will be most impacted, rather than the bigger plants. We’ll be able to wash those down, but it’s going to take forever,” she said.
Flood damage at Little River nursery.Nathan Mckinnon
Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell and Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger visited Little River on Wednesday.
Mitchell told RNZ the flooding was worse than in May 2025.
“They’re in the middle of their summer season so we’ve got to do everything we can to support them and get them back on their feet as quickly as we can,” he said.
Boil water notices remained in place for Little River and Wainui.
Mauger said the water supply in Wainui was “absolute toast”.
The clean up inside the Little River Cafe and Store.Nathan Mckinnon
The council had sent Starlink WiFi devices to Akaroa and Wainui, although Chorus found and fixed a damaged fibre cable on a bridge that restored cell tower connections on Wednesday afternoon.
Students on two school trips who were stuck at Wainui and Ōnuku Marae had returned home.
Provisional figures from Earth Sciences New Zealand showed 243 millimetres of rain was recorded at its site in Akaroa in the 24 hours to 9am on Tuesday morning.
That was the highest 24-hour rainfall total for Akaroa in the month of February since records began in 1977, the organisation said.
Earth Sciences said Akaroa had received 316 millimetres of rain so far this month, making it the wettest February on record.
New integration adds data-centric protection to Temenos Transact, streamlining compliance, secure modernization, and AI analytics.
WIESBADEN, GERMANY – EQS Newswire – 18 February 2026 – comforte AG, a global leader in data-centric security, and ITSS Global, a premier Temenos delivery partner, have announced a collaboration to help retail, commercial and private banks using Temenos Transact eliminate the risks associated with clear-text personally identifiable information (PII) and payment data across core banking systems and their connected environments. As banks accelerate digital transformation and data-driven programs such as fraud prevention and AI, exposure of sensitive data across systems has become a growing concern. Regulators and industry standards worldwide are also raising the bar for how banks protect sensitive data and prove control across connected environments, including PCI DSS, privacy requirements, and resilience expectations. The comforte and ITSS collaboration addresses these challenges with a co-developed solution that extends data protection into Temenos Transact environments without complex customization. Delivered by ITSS as part of its Temenos services, the integration leverages comforte’s TAMUNIO technology for centralized policy management, tokenization, and controlled de-tokenization, keeping sensitive data protected across environments while still supporting reporting, analytics, and downstream processing, including fraud detection workflows and AI-driven insights built on Transact data.
Turning Security into an Enabler “The modern threat landscape demands a shift from securing systems to securing the data itself,” said Henning Horst, CTO at comforte. “Today’s regulators and auditors expect readable data to stay out of places it doesn’t belong. Together with ITSS, we help banks prove that control and move faster on analytics, fraud initiatives, and AI programs using protected data.”
Safe Implementation into Temenos Transact “As banks modernize their Temenos environments, the real security challenge is no longer the perimeter. It is protecting sensitive data as it moves across core systems, analytics platforms, and the cloud,” said Somasundaram M, Regional Sales Director, MEA at ITSS. “Through our partnership with comforte, we enable Temenos clients to embed data-centric tokenization directly into their transformation journeys. This significantly reduces breach exposure, supports compliance with evolving regulatory mandates such as PCI DSS 4.0 and GDPR, and allows banks to adopt cloud, analytics, and AI-driven use cases without compromising data sovereignty or performance.”
To learn more or request a briefing, visit comforte.com. You can alsocontact us via email: sales@comforte.com / marketing@ITSSglobal.com.
Hashtag: #comforteAG
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Artist’s visualisation of a second Mt Victoria Tunnel in Wellington.NZTA / Waka Kotahi
The Transport Minister says holding off on a second Mount Victoria tunnel is something under consideration, if congestion charging shows it is not needed.
But the Finance Minister insists the project is “all go,” with work already underway.
A second tunnel through Mount Victoria was a key 2023 campaign promise from National, and the project made its way into the Roads of National Significance programme.
A second Terrace Tunnel has also been proposed, reserved solely for southbound traffic, while the existing three-lane tunnel would become a dedicated route for northbound traffic only.
The New Zealand Transport Agency estimated the costs of the new tunnels, along with removing parking on Vivian Street, would cost between $2.9 billion and $3.8 billion.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop says a question on whether the Mount Victoria tunnels would be tolled was “complicated” by potential time-of-use pricing.RNZ/Mark Papalii
The National Infrastructure Plan, released on Tuesday, said time of use charging for congested urban networks would encourage people to travel during less congested times or take public transport.
This, the plan said, would reduce delays and improve network performance, but also “defer the need for expensive capacity expansions”.
The government has legislated to implement time-of-use charging, establishing a framework to allow councils to set up a congestion charging scheme.
The plan said New Zealand ranked fourth to last in the OECD for asset management, or the practice of looking after existing infrastructure.
The commission said better understanding of existing assets would help avoiding diverting maintenance spending into new capital investment, to the cost of future generations.
“Reform is needed to better align transport investment with what users can fund, supported by clearer and
more independent oversight to ensure spending is focused on maintaining existing networks and delivering new projects only where they respond to demand and provide clear value for money.”
Transport Minister Chris Bishop said a question on whether the Mount Victoria tunnels would be tolled was “complicated” by potential time-of-use pricing.
“Which is why I’m not getting ahead of any of that. There’s a variety of quite complicated issues around tolling and time-of-use pricing in both Auckland and Wellington, which we’re working our way through, and any decision on that is a long time away.”
Finance Minister Nicola Willis says the tunnel has not been cancelled.RNZ / Mark Papalii
Asked whether time of use charging should be used first before committing funds to two tunnels, Bishop said it was an option under consideration and he would have more to say soon.
“I’m not cancelling the tunnel, but we are giving active consideration to what time-of-use pricing might do to our transport projects. You have to factor these things in, because thay are a mechanism for demand management and making more efficient use of our infrastructure, which is exactly what the commission says.”
Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the tunnel had not been cancelled.
“Mount Vic Tunnel is all go. And in fact, work is already underway on that project, which is to say there’s around I think $150 million of geotechnical work underway already, which has involved drills and spades in the ground.”
Willis was more ambiguous when asked whether the second Terrace Tunnel “all go” as well, referring questions back to Bishop.
She said the point the Infrastructure Commission was making was that when deciding how to prioritise, sequence, fund, and finance projects, one of the things to consider was the role of different financing tools like petrol taxes, tolls, and congestion charging.
Wellington mayor Andrew Little said the Mount Victoria tunnel was always the government’s project, so it decides what happens.
“From Wellington’s point of view, what matters most is we have good infrastructure that means people can move around and across the city,” he said.
“What we need most of all is certainty about what the government is doing so that the council and residents can plan with confidence.”
Climate Change Minister Simon Watts has announced the appointment of Stuart Calman as New Zealand’s Climate Change Ambassador.
“I am pleased to welcome Stuart to this role, given his expertise in foreign policy, trade and development, along with strong climate policy experience,” Mr Watts says.
“Stuart brings an excellent understanding of opportunities for enhanced cooperation with the Pacific and Southeast Asia. A particular focus in 2026 will be supporting Australia in its role as chair of the UN Climate COP31 negotiations, in partnership with the Pacific. Stuart’s expertise will be beneficial in supporting New Zealand’s economic, trade, and climate goals.”
Mr Calman is a senior diplomat who served as New Zealand’s Ambassador to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) based in Jakarta from 2022-24. He has held leadership roles in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade with a focus on energy, climate resilience and sustainable economic development in the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Prior to joining the Ministry in 2013, Mr Calman held management roles in the Ministry for the Environment and the Ministry of Economic Development, responsible for climate change, energy and environmental policy.
Mr Calman studied Business, Economics and Development at Massey University and his whakapapa includes Ngāti Toa, Raukawa ki te Tonga and Kāi Tahu. He will take up his new, Wellington-based role effective immediately, replacing Stuart Horne who has taken up the role of New Zealand Consul-General in Honolulu.
Mr Calman’s appointment as Climate Change Ambassador starts on Monday 16 February 2026.
Spark saw a net after tax profit of $64 million for the six months ended December.RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson
Telecommunications company Spark’s mobile and broadband businesses delivered slight revenue growth over the first half, contributing to an 83 percent increase in net profit.
“The first half of FY26 has delivered a clear step up in Spark’s performance, as we build momentum towards our SPK-30 strategy ambitions,” chair Justine Smyth said.
Key numbers for the six months ended December compared with a year ago:
Smyth said [https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/569697/spark-to-sell-75-percent-stake-in-data-centre-to-pacific-equity-partners
proceeds from the sale] of 75 percent of its data centre business, completed 30 January 2026, will be used to reduce debt in the second half of the year ending in June.
The board also reaffirmed Spark’s underlying full year profit guidance in a range of $1.01 billion and and $1.07b.
Spark chief executive Jolie Hodson said growth of its mobile network was the core of its growth strategy, along with remaining competitive, while working to simplify its portfolio of products.
“What I’ve been really pleased about in this first half is the growth we’ve seen in mobile, and that’s core and central to our strategy ahead.
“And that includes both from an investment that we’re making the network, but also the work we’re doing around our customer experience. We’ve reset the business, and it was pleasing to be able to deliver the step-up of performance in first half.”
Amova portfolio manager Michael De Cesare said the result was largely in line with expectations, with the company’s cost cutting programme delivering substantial savings.
“Becoming a leaner operation with improved productivity effectively takes some pressure off the top line performance,” he said.
While Spark delivered slight revenue growth in mobile and broadband, De Cesare said the company had challenges ahead, including the decline of its traditional phone lines and older network services.
Forsyth Barr analyst Ben Crozier said the result was softer than expected though growth in mobile and broadband segments were broadly in line with expectations.
Crozier said the net profit growth was a “meaningful” step-up, but missed its $93m estimate.
The price rises at the latest global diary trade auction have been described as a “very good result” for New Zealand dairy farmers.123RF
Dairy prices rose again at the global dairy trade auction overnight – continuing a reversal of last year’s downward swing and raising questions about whether a $10 milk payout could be back on the table.
The average price rose 3.6 percent to US$4028 a tonne – it follows the 6.7 percent rise a fortnight ago, and is the fourth consecutive increase of the year.
Rabobank Dairy Analyst Emma Higgins said it was a “very good result” for New Zealand dairy farmers, with meaningful gains across key products.
The price of wholemilk powder, which strongly affects farmer payouts, rose 2.5 percent to US$3706 a tonne.
Prices for other products were mostly stronger, including a sharp increase in butter which rose over 10 percent.
“Overall, the event reinforced a couple of things. First is that there is improving demand sentiment across the dairy complex,” Higgins said.
“With current current dairy commodity prices where they are, the question begs whether we’ll start to see an increase in the farmgate milk price forecast for the 2025/26 season.”
Higgins was cautiously optimistic, adding there was still a lot of milk available on the global market at the moment.
“We’ve had some incredibly strong growth in the European Union, particularly driven from Ireland, France and Poland. And then if we think about the United States, we’ve seen consistently strong milk production for the majority of 2025.
“That was the reason that we saw weaker commodity prices at the back half of last year. It was the reason that we saw farmgate milk prices slashed by Christmas time.
“Now we’ve got the situation where demand is starting to improve, and at the same time, we’re starting to see perhaps some signals as we move through 2026 that supply environment will start to tighten up.”
She said current market dynamics would suggest there was support for lifting the current milk price forecast from where it sits at that midpoint range of $9, up to somewhere around the $9.50 per kilogram of milk solid mark.
Thousands of users worldwide are experiencing an outage on YouTube’s website with a “something went wrong” sign coming up on its homepage.
It appears that embedded YouTube clips are still playing, however the YouTube website is inaccessible.
There had been more than 200,000 reports of problems on the website, according to the unofficial, crowd-sourced site, Downdetector, Yahoo Finance UK reported.
This sign appears for some people when going to YouTube’s home page.Supplied / Screenshot
More to come ….
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
The Reserve Bank has held the official cash rate steady at 2.25 percent, as expected.
The central bank says the economy is gradually recovering but it is uneven, and its priority is to get inflation back into the middle of its target band.
18 February 2026 – Annual consumers price inflation was slightly above the Monetary Policy Committee’s 1 to 3 percent target band at the end of 2025. Increases in food and electricity prices and local council rates were the biggest contributors to above-target inflation.
The economy is at an early stage in its recovery. With ongoing strength in commodity prices, economic activity in the agricultural sector and regional New Zealand remains strong. Although residential and business investment is increasing, households remain cautious in their spending. The labour market is stabilising, but unemployment remains elevated. House price growth remains weak, dampening household wealth and inclination to spend.
In response to previous cuts in the OCR, economic growth is broadening across sectors of the economy, such as manufacturing, construction and some retail. Economic growth is expected to increase over 2026.
Inflation is most likely returning to within the Committee’s 1 to 3 percent target band in the current quarter. The Committee is confident that inflation will fall to the 2 percent midpoint over the next 12 months due to spare capacity in the economy, modest wage growth, and core inflation within the target band.
Risks to the inflation outlook are balanced. The global environment remains highly uncertain. Domestically, greater caution by households in their spending decisions could slow the pace of New Zealand’s economic recovery, risking inflation falling below the target midpoint. But with demand increasing in the economy, businesses could try to increase prices faster than expected, leaving inflation above the target midpoint.
The Committee agreed to hold the OCR at 2.25 percent. If the economy evolves as expected, monetary policy is likely to remain accommodative for some time. The Committee will continue to assess incoming data carefully. As the recovery strengthens and inflation falls sustainably towards the target midpoint, monetary policy settings will gradually normalise.
Tower insurance chair Michael Stiassny says some progress to tackle the impacts of extreme weather events had been “haphazard, inadequate and painfully slow”.RNZ
Tower paid out $12m already in bad weather claims, expects more
Company has $45m fund for big events, a quarter already spent
Full year underlying profit will be almost halved if events fund exhausted
Chair criticises lack of action on climate change as “costing lives and money”
Local insurance company Tower expects a rise in weather-related claims will nearly halve its profits this year, as its chair criticised the lack of action to confront climate change.
The company’s annual meeting heard it had already used about $12 million of its budgeted $45m to cover large events, and expected more costs from the storms of the past week.
“This includes the October windstorm, the Timaru hailstorm in November, and the late January nationwide storm,” chief executive Paul Johnston said.
“Claims from the stormy weather across New Zealand over the past few days are still being assessed and at this early stage, Tower expects costs to exceed its … large events threshold.”
It forecast its full year underlying profit would be between $55m-$65m from a record $107m in 2025 if it used all of its large events fund.
Johnston told the meeting the first part of the year has been steady with growth in house policies, premium growth, and adding new customers.
The company said its risk based pricing meant it building a less vulnerable business, while its technical upgrades have sped up the processing of claims with more motor claims were being referred directly to repairers.
Climate change costing lives and money
The retiring chair, business veteran Michael Stiassny, said too little progress was being made in tackling climate change.
“In the wake of the tragic events at Mount Maunganui, Papamoa and Warkworth, we face a chilling reality. Climate change is here, and it’s costing lives and money.”
He said some progress to tackle the impacts of extreme weather events had been “haphazard, inadequate and painfully slow”.
Stiassny said three years after Cyclone Gabrielle there had been no decisive action to prevent loss of life, prevent building on flood plains, active measures to protect against floods from more frequent and severe rain events.”
“Are we confident that our infrastructure is resilient and will cope with large storms that are no longer anomalies? The answer is a resounding no.”
Insurance review questioned
Stiassny also questioned the planned review of the insurance industry ordered by the government earlier this month from financial regulators to look at the high cost of insurance and growing evidence that some companies are refusing to insure certain towns or parts of towns.
“The rate of premium increase is either on par with the sum insured increase or much lower. In short, premiums have not climbed as much as some Ministers have said,” he said.
“The real issue when it comes to insurance affordability is the cost of living more generally for Kiwis. With costs of all goods and services spiralling up significantly more than incomes, it is inevitable that some people are unable to afford insurance.”
He said levies for Fire and Emergency and Natural Hazards Insurance made up about 40 percent of premiums, over which it had no control.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
National’s Nicola Willis says the government has not given any consideration to putting a $9 toll on both the Auckland Harbour Bridge and a new crossing, calling it a “completely hypothetical scenario”.
And Labour says any such move would have to be “thought through very carefully” given the cost of living.
In response, Transport Minister Chris Bishop said any new crossing would be tolled, but the government was still seeking advice regarding the existing bridge.
Speaking on Morning Report‘s political panel, Willis played down the $9 figure.
“I just want to be really clear that that is a completely hypothetical scenario in the Infrastructure Commission’s plan. It’s not something that the government has given consideration to.”
Willis said both National and Labour faced a challenge in paying for the “essential” multi-billion dollar project as no funding had been put aside.
“How do you pay for it? And what the experts and advisers always say is, you should make sure that the users of roads are contributing the cost to them.
“And actually, that’s a road that would have so many vehicle movements a day that actually a toll to help pay for it would mean you could deliver it sooner.”
Labour’s deputy Carmel Sepuloni said her party was “not completely opposed” to the notion of tolling but said they needed to be “thought through very carefully”.
“For someone like me who doesn’t go over the the Harbour Bridge very often, and perhaps is in a better position to be able to pay the $9, it’s not a big deal, but for someone who’s travelling over that bridge every day and going to work and perhaps not on the highest income, that becomes quite a big deal.”
Sepuloni said the government needed to think about ways to ensure any tolls were affordable given the pressures of the cost of living.
“We need to make sure that any measure, including tolls, are fair and equitable.”
Willis said both political parties had made decisions in recent years to keep petrol taxes a bit lower, meaning that road funding had had to be topped up from general taxation.
But she said that also raised questions of fairness: “we used to have the concept that those who use the roads pay for them”.
Greater Auckland editor Matt Lowrie had told Morning Report that the estimated revenue from the toll is between $7 and $9 billion, while the projected costs of the crossing could exceed $20b.
He said while a second crossing is needed to provide more capacity, other payment options could be considered.
Lowrie agreed that tolling both crossings was necessary because just tolling the new one meant people would simply continue using the existing bridge, however he suggested a lower toll be implemented to see the impact of it.
ASB has joined the Kāinga Ora First Home Loan scheme, which allows borrowers to buy a house with a deposit of only 5 percent.
The loan is underwritten by Kāinga Ora, so borrowers are usually able to access the same interest rates as buyers with 20 percent deposit.
Previously it had only been available through Westpac, Kiwibank, The Co-Operative Bank, SBS, Unity, Nelson Building Society and NZHL.
ASB executive general manager personal banking Adam Boyd said home ownership was a “cornerstone of financial wellbeing and security for many New Zealanders”.
“This loan helps to get more people into their own homes without the challenge of saving a large deposit while managing everyday expenses, like rent.”
He said people using the scheme could also be eligible for ASB’s cash back offer.
Glen McLeod, head of Link Advisory, said it added another lending option for people thinking about buying a first home.
“The underlying criteria and approval process remain the same, as Kāinga Ora is still the gatekeeper for applications. More lender choice is positive, but the practical impact will depend on each client’s situation and how they meet Kāinga Ora’s existing requirements.”
Robert Walters identifies New Zealand’s key labour and salary trends for 2026
Auckland, New Zealand, 18th Feb 2026 - 2026 will be a year of strategic hiring, increased pressure on salaries, and rising workforce mobility across New Zealand, according to new research from global talent solutions partner Robert Walters.
The findings come from its latest Salary Guide, launching today, which surveyed over 2,300 white-collar New Zealand professionals across 12 different industries.
Shay Peters, CEO, Robert Walters Australia & New Zealand: ”The New Zealand labour market is showing a renewed sense of optimism, but caution remains. Businesses are hiring again, skills shortages persist, and employees are carefully weighing where they work, what they earn, and whether to relocate. This combination is reshaping the workforce: organisations face pressure to attract and retain talent, address capability gaps, and balance pay with cost-of-living concerns, while employees are increasingly strategic about career moves and mobility. How companies respond now will have a direct impact on productivity, growth, and their ability to secure and retain the talent they need for success in the future.”
Key labour market trends
Hiring rebounds, but jobseekers remain cautious after 2025 turmoil
Market confidence is gradual but strengthening, with 76% of New Zealand businesses planning to hire in 2026, up from 66% in 2025.
Hiring demand varies regionally. Canterbury leads hiring intent at 78%, followed by Auckland (75%) and Wellington (72%).
Despite this uplift in business confidence, employee mobility has cooled. 53% of New Zealand professionals are considering a role change this year, down from 63% in 2025, suggesting a more cautious workforce.
Shay comments: ”Hiring intent has increased since last year, signalling that businesses are ready to move forward. However, employees are taking a more considered approach. From conversations we’ve been having with job seekers, we know the unstable condition of the 2025 labour market is making people concerned about job prospects in 2026. Economic uncertainty over the past year has made many professionals very risk-aware. The labour market is gradually rebalancing, rather than surging.”
Salary growth remains modest as cost-of-living pressures persist
In 2025, 57% of New Zealand professionals received a pay rise, although most increases fell within the modest 2.5%-5% range, limiting their real impact.
67% of New Zealand businesses intend to offer salary increases in 2026, while 56% of professionals expect one.
42% of employees feel underpaid, but 83% of employers believe salaries are keeping pace with the cost of living, highlighting a perception gap.
Salary dissatisfaction varies regionally. In Canterbury, 46% of professionals do not believe their salary matches the cost of living. In Auckland this stands at 42%, and in Wellington 39%.
Shay comments: ”As businesses come out of last year’s restructures, organisations have an opportunity to reassess remuneration. Where salary increases are not feasible, employers must focus on career progression, flexibility, and skills development. It’s no secret the movement of New Zealand talent to Australia is well underway. Dissatisfaction around pay is a high retention risk, especially as overseas markets actively target New Zealand talent.”
Skills shortages squeeze productivity across key sectors
Skills shortages remain critical, with 81% of New Zealand employers experiencing gaps over the past year.
Regional pressure varies, with 52% of Auckland employers reporting shortages, followed by Wellington (49%) and Canterbury (39%).
The most acute gaps are in industry-specific expertise (52%), digital and technology capability (37%), and leadership skills (31%) - these areas closely linked to productivity and organisational performance.
Hiring challenges are compounded by unsuitable applicants (62%) and a lack of formal qualifications (53%).
Shay comments: ”Skills shortages are a severe productivity issue. When capability gaps persist, delivery slows and growth opportunities are missed.
New Zealand organisations must take a long-term view, investing in leadership development, digital capability, and structured workforce planning. Skills gaps directly impact productivity and growth, and with more talent continuing to move to Australia, this challenge will intensify unless decisive action is taken now. Waiting for the market to correct itself is no longer a viable strategy in a competitive global talent landscape.”
AI adoption accelerates, but concerns remain
AI integration is gaining momentum. 86% of New Zealand businesses are actively promoting AI, and 70% of employers say AI skills are important.
Adoption at employee level is already high, with 69% using AI in their roles. However, 51% express concern about AI’s future impact on their job.
Shay comments: ”New Zealand businesses are embracing AI at pace, but adoption must be matched with transparency and training. The fact that over half of employees are concerned about AI’s future impact highlights the importance of clear communication and structured upskilling.
At the speed AI is developing, it’s critical that soft skills like leadership, collaboration, and problem-solving are not lost but actively encouraged alongside new technology.
Done right, AI can increase efficiency, boost productivity, and complement human talent, supporting the goals outlined in New Zealand’s 2025 AI Strategy for a productive, future-ready workforce.”
Rising relocation trends are creating a borderless workforce
Mobility remains a defining feature of the New Zealand workforce. 58% of professionals are open to relocating for work.
Interest varies regionally. In Auckland, 64% would consider relocating, compared with 53% in Wellington and 51% in Canterbury.
Australia is the most attractive destination, with 65% naming it as their top choice. Domestically, 54% would consider relocating within New Zealand. Internationally, 23% would consider moving to the UK and 21% to Europe.
The primary drivers of relocation are higher salaries (71%), better job opportunities (65%), lifestyle changes (53%), and cost of living (38%).
Interest in Australians relocating to New Zealand has increased this year to 17% (up from 2% in 2025).
Shay comments: ”The strength of interest in Australia underscores how interconnected the two labour markets have become. For many professionals, relocation is no longer aspirational, it is a strategic financial and career decision.
New Zealand employers must recognise that they are competing not just locally, but internationally. Organisations that create compelling career pathways, competitive remuneration and flexible work models will be better positioned to retain talent in an increasingly borderless market.”
About the Salary Guide: The Robert Walters 2026 Salary Guide provides a comprehensive overview of hiring intentions, salary trends, skills shortages, and workforce mobility across New Zealand. With insights from over 2,300 respondents, the guide highlights how businesses and employees are navigating an evolving labour market shaped by cost-of-living pressures, technological adoption, and mobility opportunities.
About Robert Walters:
With more than 3,100 people in 30 countries, Robert Walters delivers recruitment consultancy, staffing, recruitment process outsourcing and managed services across the globe. From traditional recruitment and staffing to end-to-end talent management, our consultants are experts at matching highly skilled people to permanent, contract and interim roles across all professional disciplines.
The Employment Relations Amendment Bill will help restore balance, certainty and common sense to New Zealand’s employment framework, BusinessNZ says.
Director of Advocacy Catherine Beard says the Bill, which passed its third reading last night, addresses real-world issues facing employers and workers, and supports a more flexible and confident economy.
“Clear and workable employment settings are essential to business confidence and job growth. The amendments address areas of employment law which have been caught up in recent debate – including the status of contractors in platform-based work arrangements.
“For example, recent court cases have found that four Uber drivers are in-fact full time employees – due to their individual circumstances. The issue is platform work opportunities like the ones we have now wouldn’t have come about if the platform operators were made to shoulder all the costs and commitments associated with full time employment.
“If we want to keep new enterprise and the ensuing benefits consumers enjoy, we must make sure the model can continue to work. We hope the Government has done enough with this legislation to make it clear to the courts and potential claimants that they can’t keep trying to break the model.”
The Bill also amends situations where workers dismissed for serious misconduct have up until now been able to receive financial compensation through the personal grievance process.
“Most New Zealanders understand that serious wrongdoing at work comes with consequences. Removing automatic financial rewards, for instance by penalising the employer for small procedural errors, restores fairness and reinforces accountability.
“Overall, The Bill moves employment law closer to the realities of modern work, while maintaining core protections. This is something BusinessNZ has been advocating for, for a long time. These changes will reduce administrative requirements and provide greater flexibility for employers and employees when agreeing employment terms.”
The BusinessNZ Network including BusinessNZ, EMA, Business Central and Business South, represents and provides services to thousands of businesses, small and large, throughout New Zealand.
ASB Bank will now offer the Kāinga Ora First Home Loan, marking another step in the bank’s commitment to making home ownership accessible for more New Zealanders.
The First Home Loan is designed for people who can afford regular mortgage repayments but are finding it difficult to save a 20% deposit. Instead of the standard deposit, eligible buyers can purchase their first home with just 5%, with the loan underwritten by Kāinga Ora – Homes and Communities.
ASB Executive General Manager Personal Banking Adam Boyd says “Home ownership is a cornerstone of financial wellbeing and security for many New Zealanders. This loan helps to get more people into their own homes without the challenge of saving a large deposit while managing everyday expenses, like rent.”
“By offering the First Home Loan, we’re helping to break down one of the biggest barriers to homeownership and opening doors for more New Zealanders to create their future and put down roots in their communities.”
“We’re committed to walking alongside our customers through one of the biggest financial decisions they’ll make. As well as the Kainga Ora First Home Loan, we have a team of trained specialist lenders to help customers on their journey,” says Adam Boyd.
Eligible customers who have been contributing to KiwiSaver for at least three years may also be able to withdraw their savings to put towards their home purchase and will be eligible for ASB’s First Home Buyer cashback offer.
Chief executive Andrew Reding expected market conditions to remain challenging in the near term.Supplied / Fletcher Building
Fletcher Building has posted a smaller half-year loss as the company continues to clean up its long-list of legacy issues, while business remains challenging.
Key numbers for the six months ended December compared with a year ago:
Net loss $11m vs $134m loss
Revenue $3.37b vs $3.58b
Revenue from continuing operations $2.87b vs $2.85b
Profit from continuing operations $45m vs $88m loss
Significant items $7m vs $177m
No dividend
Chief executive Andrew Reding said Fletcher was making progress in difficult trading conditions.
“The first half of [financial year 2026] was another demanding period for the building industry, with subdued markets across New Zealand and Australia,” he said.
“Conditions differed between a particularly weak first quarter and a more stable second quarter,” Reding said. “In that environment, our core manufacturing businesses held up well, supported by disciplined cost control and better operational execution.”
Fletcher’s interim result last year was affected by $177 million in one-off items related to its legacy projects, compared to $7m in one-offs in the latest period.
Revenue from continuing operations was flat on the prior year, with lower New Zealand volumes and ongoing competitive pressure, which was offset by stable performances in its core manufacturing businesses.
Last month, Fletcher announced the sale of its construction division, as the company worked to simplify the business after years of pressure from delayed projects and cost overruns.
“The sale of Construction is a major step in reshaping Fletcher Building into a simpler, more focused building products manufacturing and distribution group,” Reding said.
“Combined with the cost and capital discipline we have put in place, it positions the Group well to benefit as market conditions recover.”
Reding expected market conditions to remain challenging in the near term.
“In New Zealand, residential and civil demand is likely to remain relatively subdued through [financial year 2026], with a more meaningful recovery not anticipated until calendar year 2027,” he said.
“In Australia, early signs of stabilisation are emerging in parts of the portfolio, although conditions remain uneven.”
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
First-home buyers were still a strong force in the market, but dropped to 26.2 percent of transactions compared to 28.3 percent at the end of 2025.Unsplash/ Jakub Żerdzicki
Homeowners becoming willing to brave the housing market and shift to a new property could be a positive thing for the economy, one economist says.
Cotality, formerly Corelogic, has released its latest property data pack.
It shows that sales volumes were down 10.7 percent on the same month in 2025. It followed a stronger-than-expected December.
Property economist Kelvin Davidson said, when taking the two months together, there was still an overall lift in transactions.
“We’d expect to see more sales growth activity in 2026 on the back of reduced mortgage rates and a recovering economy,” he said.
Values dropped 1 percent in the year to January but Cotality said while Auckland and Wellington were soft, areas such as Dunedin and Invercargill had more pressure on prices.
Nationally prices are still down 17.5 percent from their peak but Wellington’s are down 25.5 percent compared to 3.6 percent in Christchurch.
First-home buyers were still a strong force in the market, but dropped to 26.2 percent of transactions compared to 28.3 percent at the end of 2025.
Investors were also active. But chief property economist Kelvin Davidson said movers’ share of the market increased from 25.3 percent to 27 percent. These are people who own a home and are moving to another.
“To be fair, it’s early days. But this could be the first sign that as economic confidence starts to recover more owner-occupying households may start to look at the market again and relocate. Their activity has been quieter than normal lately, so some pent-up demand to shift is probably present.
“They’ve been relatively quiet for quite a long time, biding their time, Watching the economy still feeling a little bit cautious about taking that next step, trading up, moving house. You probably don’t necessarily want to do that if you don’t have to in an uncertain environment.”
He said it was not a trend yet but something he had been watching for.
“All that time that movers have been quiet, there’s still been life going on. People have been changing their circumstances yet not moving. So I suspect there’s probably a bit of pent-up demand there that will come out at some point.”
He said, if it did, people such as valuers and real estate salespeople would benefit, but so too would big ticket retailers. “A good time to move house might be a good time to get a new sofa, that sort of thing.”
Flat prices might disappoint sellers but were positive for buyers.
“The predictability of current conditions is reassuring for buyers, who are continuing to adjust to the recent experience of stable prices and lower mortgage rates,” Davidson said.
“With affordability gradually improving and employment conditions set to strengthen slowly this year, there’s a growing sense of cautious optimism, even if the recovery will be measured rather than sharp. Debt to income ratio caps remain important to watch.”
The data showed rents were subdued.
Prices were down over the year in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga and Wellington.
The median national rent fell 0.8 percent in the last quarter of the year compared to the same time a year earlier.
Davidson said it was likely behaviour would shift, activity would improve and 2026 would be a year of gradual growth for sales and prices.
“Affordability has improved to its best position in several years, mortgage rates have eased, and listings are gradually drifting lower. Those factors combined are helping to steady the market and should support a lift in sales activity through 2026,” he said.
“Other considerations include borrowers who are rolling off higher fixed rates onto cheaper loans, which will help free up cashflow for some households and should the labour market slowly gather steam as expected, that sets the scene for modest price growth rather than a sharp rebound.”