Building consents are increasing in Auckland, but they are not keeping pace with the number of new homes that needed.
2349 dwelling consents were issued in New Zealand in October, 805 of those consents were granted in Auckland.
To keep pace with population growth more than 12,500 dwellings are required each year in the Auckland region. But at current levels just over 8,000 will be granted over the next year.
BUSINESS CONFIDENCE
The mood of our business leaders is a important economic indicator.
If they are feeling confident they are more likely to hire staff and invest to grow their businesses.
The latest ANZ Business confidence survey shows positive sentiment is at a six-month high.
A net 14.5 percent of businesses were confident about the general outlook for the economy over the coming year.
People are even more confident when it comes to their own business.
A net 32 percent of firms see their own activity expanding in the coming year.
Lower dairy prices and a slowing housing market in Auckland and Christchurch are causing concern. But that is being offset by the rise in tourism and migration.
BLACK FRIDAY AND CYBER MONDAY
For the first time it appears more people shopped online over the American Thanksgiving holidays than went into the shops.
A survey by the National Retail Federation found 103 million people planned to shop online between Thursday and Sunday.
That compares with an estimated 102 million who went into the shops.
On Cyber Monday 121.3 million were expected to shop online, down from 126.9 million a year ago.
The amount spent online is still much smaller than the amount spent in the shops.
Online spending is about 18 percent of in-store spending over the holiday weekend.
THE DOLLAR
The New Zealand dollar is stronger this morning.
At 7am it was trading at 65.78 US cents - a rise of 0.6 percent.
It was little changed against the Australian dollar, at 90.94 cents.
The Kiwi was over half a percent higher against the British pound at 43.76 pence.
It was trading at 81.00 Japanese yen and 62.29 Euro cents.
Watch the video for the full Talk Money segment.
