The Real Estate Institute of New Zealand’s (REINZ) housing market results for January are out, with New Zealand’s housing crash continuing to deepen. The bigger story is around sales, which plunged to their lowest level ever in January, excluding the 2020 pandemic lockdown period. And around two-thirds of buyers are concerned about prices falling after they make a purchase, alongside being concerned about rising interest rates and access to finance. Given the Reserve Bank has explicitly forecast a further increase in the official cash rate to 5.5% (from 4.25% currently), alongside a recession, it is hard to see New Zealand’s housing market rebounding anytime soon. Thus, if recession hits, there could be a wave of forced sales that pushes house prices even lower.

The data for the latest RBNZ survey was obtained from 39 business leaders and professional forecasters by the Nielsen group on behalf of RBNZ. That's why killing inflation expectations is a key part of the RBNZ's inflation fighting job. The RBNZ will see the latest survey as a step in the right direction - but with much more to do. The RBNZ said one-year-ahead expectations for house price changes were "widely varied". Compared with last quarter, house price expectations for one-year ahead had a mean of -6.27%, down 88 basis points from -5.39%.

Esther Ashby-Coventry/StuffWhat new-ish holiday is celebrated on February 13th to celebrate non-romantic relationships?

Super Rugby Pacific is adopting an in-game off-field review system to determine a yellow or red card threshold for all foul play incidents.Photo / PhotosportSuper Rugby Pacific is adopting an in-game off-field review system to determine a yellow or red card threshold for all foul play incidents.Photo / PhotosportSuper Rugby Pacific’s second season will adopt an in-game off-field review system to determine a yellow or red card threshold for all foul play incidents. With speeding up the game front of mind, Super Rugby Pacific will this year usher in something of a halfway house to the NRL’s off-field bunker review system. This season Super Rugby Pacific referees will instead attempt to view two foul play replays at most. If that incident meets a yellow card threshold, the player will be sent from the field for 10 minutes. NZ Rugby head of high performance Mike Anthony acknowledged rugby’s initial card review system could lead to inconsistency.

Suck it right wing clowns. Labour’s jump wasn’t just a bump, it was a mighty hump for a red headed boy from the Hutt! The Greens are way weaker than we suspect and ACT will hit 15% as Luxon continues to bore. What is most amazing is the favourability numbers……the Right wing have been popping champagne bottles for two months believing the election was in the bag. Increasingly having independent opinion in a mainstream media environment which mostly echo one another has become more important than ever, so if you value having an independent voice – please donate here.

Next season’s avocado crop has already been extensively damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle. Maungatapere avocado grower Mike Eagles said next year’s avocado harvest was “already hopeless” because of the damage the fruit and trees had sustained from rain and wind. His ten-hectare orchard was already “absolutely hammered” by Monday morning, with rain gauges overflowing a day before the worst of the cyclone was expected, Eagles said. That amount of fruit loss would have a significant impact on the income from the orchard, Eagles said. He expected even less fruit would be good for export after Cyclone Gabrielle.

Premiums across house, car, and contents insurance generally shot up at a higher rate than inflation did, with variances per region and the insurance company surveyed. In 2021, a Consumer NZ price survey of home and contents insurance found that premiums for a standard-sized house insurance policy could vary by up to $2000, while another survey conducted late last year found that 7% and 17% of Kiwis cancelled or did not renew their house and contents insurance policies, respectively, for cost-related reasons. Not everyone was willing to pay substantially more, Quashed insurance data revealed, as a minority of people had opted to find insurers through the Quashed insurance comparison website willing to offer them a lower premium, as reported by stuff.co.nz. Whereas customers from Auckland paid premiums higher than last year’s by $262 on average, those from Wellington were paying premiums higher by a full $504. Contents insuranceAlmost three-fourths (74%) of all customers experienced an increase in their contents policy premiums, with an average annual increase of 12%, or $74.

Travel experts Mark and Jocelyn Wolters have been holidaying all over the globe with their sons Caleb and Liam for the last 16 years. Mark told the Sun Online Travel: "Kids get upset on a plane because they're dehydrated, so it's important to keep them hydrated. He said: "It's a no to orange juice and fizzy drinks because they can cause dehydration." Because your children will be drinking plenty of water, it's likely that they'll need more trips to the toilet. Meanwhile Travel journalist Rosalyn Wikeley shared her top seven tips for travelling with young children.

The funniest part about Chippy’s decision to kick the hate speech culture war (that the Left couldn’t ever win) off the political agenda is that the Wellington Woke themselves became the reason the Labour Leadership dumped it. When Chippy called for ‘Bread and Butter Politics’, he was arguing for delivery over ideology, economic justice over social justice, and you’ve seen that with many of the policies burnt in last weeks bonfire purge, but the Hate Speech decision was different. What was argued privately to the Labour Leadership was that our middle class woke activists are so drunk on PostMeToo power that they would immediately latch onto any new Hate Speech powers and start dredging up every Facebook and Twitter argument they’ve had and claim it is hate speech. TDB Recommends NewzEngine.comThe Labour Leadership were warned that our middle class woke activist base are so fucking insane that they wouldn’t be able to help themselves even if the new hate speech laws weren’t intended for this purpose. The Labour Leadership were asked to consider the impact on the election if a wave of our middle class woke Identitarians went on a cancel culture jihad against all those who they wished to smite.

Send your pictures and stories to newstips@stuff.co.nzREAD MORE:* Cyclone Gabrielle to hit Northland, bad weather already at Cape Reinga* Cyclone Gabrielle: What is a category 3 tropical cyclone? * Pacific braces for the arrival of Cyclone Gabrielle* Cyclone Gabrielle could hammer Coromandel with up to 300mm of rain in 24 hoursHere is a look at some of the latest photos and video capturing the destruction caused by the stormy weather. Monique Edwards/Supplied Monique Edwards' home was struck by a gumtree while Cyclone Gabrielle tore through Kerikeri. LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff Councillor Shane Henderson looks down over the temporary accommodation at Auckland's Trusts Arena for Cyclone Gabrielle evacuees. Supplied A drive through surface flooding in Matarangi, Coromandel, on Monday shows the effects of the approaching Cyclone Gabrielle.

Photo: LDR / Stuff / Stephen ForbesTravellers are stuck in airports all over the world as the ripple effect of Cyclone Gabrielle spreads. Follow all the latest developments on the cyclone with RNZ's blogThe couple are among thousands of travellers affected by flight cancellations in and out of Auckland International Airport on Monday. Photo: LDR / Stuff / Stephen ForbesBut Snowden was philosophical about her last minute change of plans. He said he had received notification of the cancelled flights by text and on the airline's app, but the group was not called, or given options on how they could get home. According to Air New Zealand up to 10,000 international travellers have been affected by its flight cancellations as a result of Cyclone Gabrielle.

To listen to the interview with Kiwi former NFL player Mark Nua, click on the player below. Super Bowl LVII: Philadelphia Eagles v Kansas City Chiefs. Samoan league player-turned-NFL star Jordan Mailata has overcome the odds to play in Monday’s Super Bowl, but his rise to the sport’s pinnacle shows kids across the Pacific what’s possible, a Kiwi gridiron pioneer says. As for Nua’s pick for the Super Bowl, listen to the interview in the player above or click here. Follow The Podium on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts from, to get instant access to new episodes.

The Spinoff is subject to NZ Media Council procedures. A complaint must be first directed in writing, within one month of publication, to info@thespinoff.co.nz. If not satisfied with the response, the complaint may be referred to the online complaint form at www.presscouncil.org.nz along with a link to the relevant story and all correspondence with the publication. (C) The Spinoff 2021

'My point is not about tidying, because tidying is easy: you take something, you put it back,' she says. 'My life was easier, simple, and I began to think that maybe it was a skill,' she says. 'There is no space, but there is a feeling of space — people always think it is bigger than it is.' 'If we accept [this pollution], we can move to: 'I really want to get rid of stuff'.' PARE DOWN WITH THE BOX DETOXThe answer to too much stuff is never more stuff, argues Marie, who advises against buying boxes, containers or new furniture to fix your issues.

Cyclone Gabrielle will continue to bring intense and damaging weather our way over the next 48 hours from Monday. The entire North Island and upper South Island are under weather warnings as Cyclone Gabrielle intensifies and nears land, with states of emergency declared in a number of regions on Monday. The rest of the North Island and upper South Island are under an orange warning, while parts of Waikato, and the eastern side of the North Island are under orange warnings for rain. Many schools across the North Island have been closed. Northpower/Supplied As of Feb 13 2023, all lines in yellow, white and green are those without power due to Cyclone Gabrielle.