Risky borrowers see loans tighten

Would-be UK place proprietors with bad recognition histories are finding it harder to acquire mortgages, experts have got told the BBC.

Lenders have got tightened their loan statuses after being flustered by the United States fiscal slump, which particularly hit the sub-prime market.

And those who already have got sub-prime mortgages in the United Kingdom are put to experience the squeeze, with significant tramps in their rates.

Small houses may also detect a alteration in the mental attitude of banks, experts say.

In the US, falling gross sales and decreasing house terms have got got made it harder for householders who have hit troubles to sell their places and clear their debts.

It may be becoming more than hard for you to attain the mortgage degree you wanted

Alice Paul Sir Joshua Reynolds MoneyQuest.

This have got got led to missed payments, which have in bend caused major occupations for sub-prime lenders who have been prompted to fold offices, cut jobs and halt making loans.

'More expensive'

Sub-prime mortgages are those sold to people with mediocre recognition histories and thus a greater opportunity of defaulting.

Now United Kingdom sub-prime loaners are tightening the market, fearing the same could go on to them.

Those loaners who have got announced increased rates over the last hebdomad are putting their rates up by between 0.5% and 2.5%.

The loans - already more than than expensive than standard mortgages because of the riskier nature of the concern - are becoming more expensive, said Alice Paul Sir Joshua Reynolds of fiscal advice house MoneyQuest.

"It may be becoming more than hard for you to attain the mortgage degree you want," he told the BBC.

"Or you may be declined the mortgage that you desire completely."

Analysts have got said that, until recently, loaners had been offering mortgages to almost anyone who asked.

A batch of our concern clients are finding it harder to acquire finance

Jim CrookBlue Orchid

And last calendar month the Financial Services Authority (FSA) establish that some mortgage loaners and agents were offering loans to people who might not be able to afford them.

All loaners who specialise in loaning to higher-risk customers are regulated by the FSA.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) recently published an analysis of this subdivision of the mortgage marketplace and came to the decision that sub-prime lending in the United Kingdom had been far less hazardous than its opposite number in the US.

Peter Sellers hit too

Some littler concerns have got also reported that they were feeling the ripplings of the United States crisis.

"A batch of our clients are finding it harder to acquire finance," said Jim Criminal of Blue Orchid, a house advising new businesses.

"We believe that is happening because of tighter loaning criteria word form the banks."

Life may also be getting tougher for place sellers, state analysts, especially at the top end of the market.

Economists told the BBC that one thousands of occupations may be lost in the City of London, with record-breaking bonuses cut, as a consequence of the disturbance in the market.

Greater London estate agent Trevor Kent, who specialises in up-market properties, said he thought wealthier purchasers had been scared off.

"We've enjoyed the benefits of their multimillion lb bonuses in former old age but they [potential buyers] have got not been appearing this year.

"It's not that they're on holiday. I'm pretty certain they are just cautious."

Mortgage Cycling Versus Bi-weekly Mortgages

Stock Photo

With all the talk lately about Mortgage Cycling versus Bi-Weekly Mortgages which one is really right for you? Choosing the correct one could literally save you thousands of dollars and shave off approximately 20 years on the life of your 30 year mortgage.

So, a little background on the principal of each program needs to be told. Bi-weekly mortgages became popular a few years back when interest rates were extremely high and it made a lot of sense to pay as much on the principal of your mortgage as you can in a systematic way.

The way it works is that your mortgage payments are split in two every month so you end up paying (26) 1/2 payments instead of 12 whole payments which in effect ends up paying one additional month towards your principal.

Doing this ends up saving the average homeowner thousands of dollars on the interest payments over 30 years and shaves off around 7 years of payments. Not bad for back then. But as interest rates started to drop the net effect of savings are not as great now as they were when rates were higher.

But with the discovery of a recent mortgage loophole by Craig Romero, a senior mortgage analyst, Mortgage Cycling was born. Mortgage cycling allows a homeowner to build up 10 times faster then biweekly mortgages and allows you to pay of your 30 year mortgage in 10 years or less.

Mortgage cycling allows a homeowner to build up equity in their home fast using a patent pending technique. So fast, it ends up paying off a traditional 30 year mortgage in just about 10 years.

At first I was skeptical on how powerful mortgage cycling is until I compared using a typical $150,000 loan for thirty years at 7% interest. After running the figures though the difference between a bi-weekly mortgage versus mortgage cycling is dramatic.

Equity using a Bi-weekly Mortgage verusMortgage Cycling

Equity 1st year $1,520$14,061 Equity 3rd year $4,900$44,972 Equity 5th year $8,787$74,179 Equity 9th year $18,397$136,429

No matter the loan amount, interest rates or mortgage terms, mortgage cycling showed to dramatically cut down the payment time and interest payments to your mortgage company over the life of the loan.

Imagine what you could do with all that extra money that you can put back in your pocket instead of your mortgage company.

Now mortgage cycling may not be for everyone. But for someone who has the discipline it can be a very effective way of building up the equity in your home and to pay it off extremely fast versus using a standard bi-weekly option.

By: Ted Kushner

Ted Kushner writes about consumer issue topics of interests. If you would like to learn more about Mortgage Cycling and how it can reduce your 30 year mortgage to just 10 years visit:

Send This To

New Orleans, Ravaged by Katrina, Hit Again by Subprime Crisis

Retired New Orleans cook Hattie
Warren survived Hurricane Katrina. Now, at 82, she is struggling
with the $100,000 subprime mortgage she took out to pay bills
and ``have a few dollars'' five months before Lake Pontchartrain
flooded the city.

The payment on her adjustable-rate loan, about $860 a
month, eats up three-quarters of her income from Social Security
and the rent daughter Gloria pays to share the two-family Creole
cottage.

``I'm going to have a little problem,'' she says, sitting
in the pink-paneled living room of her home in the city's Treme
section, one of the first places in the U.S. blacks were allowed
to own property.

To trace the turmoil in the subprime mortgage market, come
to New Orleans, where borrowers who can't repay are fueling a
surge in delinquencies. With acres of gutted houses and weed-
choked yards, Louisiana's largest city is being slammed again as
lenders exit the business, demand late payments and impose
tougher standards on new loans.

About 21 percent of the state's 60,000 subprime mortgages
were at least 30 days past due in last year's fourth quarter, up
from 15 percent in 2004, the year before the storm. Only
Mississippi and Michigan had higher delinquency rates for home
loans to borrowers with weak credit or heavy debt, according to
the Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association.

`Our Best Interest'

``We are urging lenders not to demand immediate payment,''
Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco says. ``It's in all of our
best interest that they help our people.''

Massachusetts Representative Barney Frank, the Democrat who
is chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, said
in an interview that there is ample reason to give ``special
consideration'' to Louisiana mortgage holders. He also wants to
ensure no one else takes out a loan they can't handle.

``Lending people money if they don't have a good chance of
paying it back doesn't help,'' he says.

Warren, who was born when Calvin Coolidge was in the White
House, was able with her limited income to get a mortgage for as
much as some New Orleans real estate agents estimate to be the
full value of her house.

``I would guess she could get just around $100,000 to
$110,000,'' says Helen Krieger, a broker who priced a termite-
damaged listing down the street for just under that amount.

Bruce Dorpalen, director of housing counseling with Acorn
Housing Corp., a Chicago-based group assisting Warren, says she
never should have been given an adjustable rate loan.

`Forced Into Foreclosure'

``If your income is going to be steady and your mortgage
payments are going to reset, you are essentially forcing
somebody into a situation where they are going to be either
delinquent or forced into foreclosure,'' he says.

Countrywide Financial Corp., which holds Warren's loan,
``cannot and does not discriminate based on age as a credit
granting criteria,'' Jumana Bauwens, a spokeswoman, said in an
e-mailed response to questions about the credit and Dorpalen's
comment.

The Calabasas, California-based company, the biggest U.S.
mortgage lender, offered homeowners ``temporary mortgage payment
relief'' after hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit in August and
September 2005, Bauwens says. It also contracted with Acorn
Housing to help ``locate borrowers who had not contacted their
mortgage lender to begin working toward alternatives to
foreclosure,'' she said.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita damaged or destroyed 123,000
owner-occupied homes and 80,000 rental units in Louisiana. About
half the property was in Orleans Parish, which encompasses New
Orleans.

Poorest Residents

The Lower Ninth Ward, home to many of the city's poorest
residents, remains virtually uninhabited. Sections including
Gentilly and Lakeview have a mix of boarded-up houses and newly
refurbished Cape Cods and Colonials.

Borrowers such as Gwendolyn Adams, who took out a 9.99
percent loan before Katrina to pay her son's college tuition and
renovate, are trying to manage payments on homes that no longer
exist. The city tore down her Lower Ninth Ward house because it
was deemed a safety hazard.

Citigroup Inc. agreed to reduce her payment to $350 from
about $650, says Adams, a 55-year-old housing activist who used
insurance money to cut her outstanding balance to about $14,000.
``They wanted money, and they were willing to take a little bit
rather than none at all.''

Road Home Grants

Adams is one of more than 100,000 people waiting for grants
under Louisiana's Road Home program, a federally funded plan to
compensate residents whose properties were damaged or destroyed
by Katrina and Rita. About 11 percent of 134,000 applicants had
received payments as of May 5, according to ICF International,
of Fairfax, Virginia, the program's administrator.

Blanco says Road Home came to a ``screeching halt'' for
almost a month after a March 16 rule change by the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development.

HUD told the state it could no longer require grant money
to be paid into escrow accounts, where it was protected from
creditors and doled out in incremental payments to fund
rebuilding. The governor says HUD left no alternative but to
give lump sums to residents, who may now be forced to use the
money for mortgage payments rather than repairs.

``It just stunk to high heaven,'' Blanco said in an
interview.

Andrew Kopplin, executive director of the Louisiana
Recovery Authority, said that he heard an increasing number of
complaints from families being pressed for payment.

`Pressure From Lenders'

``There is a lot more pressure from the lenders on our
homeowners today than there was three months or six months
ago,'' Kopplin said.

Subprime borrowers face other problems too.

Seth Weingart, a counselor with the Greater New Orleans
Fair Housing Action Center, said that he found lenders billing
for taxes that weren't owed and insurance coverage already paid
for. Some demand fees when people use insurance to prepay loans,
he says.

Borrowers also sometimes have trouble deciphering messages
from companies servicing their mortgages, Weingart said.

In one case, Option One Mortgage Corp. told borrowers
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two largest buyers of U.S. home
loans, were telling lenders ``to end the moratorium'' on
foreclosures that went into effect after Katrina. In a letter
dated Oct. 16, 2006, the Irvine, California-based company said
it would begin reporting delinquent mortgage loans to credit
bureaus, assessing late charges and pursuing foreclosure.

Fannie Mae's Position

Fannie Mae replaced the foreclosure ban with a requirement
that lenders must have ``exhausted all'' alternatives and
received written approval before beginning legal action. It
never directed lenders to foreclose, said Christina McHenry,
director of media relations for Fannie Mae.

``In hindsight, in reviewing the letter, we agree that we
could have communicated this more effectively,'' Option One
spokeswoman Christine Sullivan said in an e-mail response to
questions.

H&R Block of Kansas City, Missouri, the largest U.S. tax
preparer, agreed April 20 to sell Option One to Cerberus Capital
Management LP, a New York private-equity and hedge-fund manager.

Hattie Warren -- who has trouble remembering how many
grandchildren she has, let alone dissecting her loan -- pins her
hopes on Regan Brewer, a counselor from Acorn.

Brewer said she is looking into whether it's possible to
negotiate lower payments on the black-and-white cottage Warren
has called home since 1973.

Seeking help wasn't easy, Warren said. ``I don't like to
ask nobody,'' she said.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Sharon L. Crenson in New York at

Bradesco First-Quarter Net Rises 11% on Lending, Fees (Update3)

Banco Bradesco SA, Brazil's second-
biggest non-state bank, said first-quarter profit rose 11 percent
on increases in consumer lending and revenue from fees and
insurance.

Net income climbed to 1.7 billion reais ($838.7 million), or
85 centavos a share, from 1.53 billion reais, or 78 centavos, a
year earlier, Osasco-based Bradesco said today on the Brazilian
securities regulator's Web site. The result compared with the
1.68 billion reais estimate by Bruno Pereira, an analyst at Banco
UBS Pactual SA.

Bradesco, which has made at least 19 acquisitions in six
years, is taking advantage of increasing demand for consumer
loans as lower interest rates and higher wages prompt purchases
of cars and home appliances. Bank lending in Latin America's
largest economy surged 21 percent in the year ended March 31.

``Bradesco was the bank that invested the most in credit
expansion,'' said Regis Abreu, who helps manage about $739
million at Mercatto Gestao de Recursos in Rio de Janeiro. ``In an
environment of declining interest rates, Bradesco is in the best
position among non-state banks to capture this credit demand.''

The bank's shares have gained 5.2 percent this year,
trailing the 14 percent increase in the benchmark Bovespa Index.
It has a market value of 89.7 billion reais.

Lending Grows

Bradesco's loan portfolio, including receivables from credit
cards, increased 25 percent to 122.4 billion reais in the quarter
from the year before. Excluding receivables from credit cards,
the portfolio increased 20 percent to 101.5 billion reais. Loans
to individuals gained 17 percent, spurred by demand for personal
loans and auto finance. Corporate loans grew 23 percent.

Adjusted net interest income advanced 0.9 percent to 5
billion reais.

Household monthly income, adjusted for inflation, rose 5
percent in March from a year earlier. Monetary policy makers in
Brazil cut the benchmark lending rate for a 15th straight time
last month to boost growth. The rate reached a record low of 12.5
percent in April from 19.75 percent in September 2005, when the
current series of rate reductions began.

``Lending activity will be higher in 2007 and 2008; however,
we expect the margin to be lower because of increased competition
in the market,'' Jose Guilherme Lembi de Faria, Bradesco's
managing director, said in a May 4 interview. ``We have to be
much more aggressive to keep our market share, to keep our
volume.''

Return on Equity

Bradesco expects loan portfolio to expand 20 percent this
year, Lembi de Faria said.

Provisions for bad loans rose to 1.16 billion reais in the
first quarter from 938 million reais in the year-earlier period,
Bradesco said.

Brazil's economy is projected to grow about 4 percent in
2007 and in 2008, according to the median estimate of economists
in a central bank survey published today. The average growth rate
from 2003 to 2006 was 3.4 percent.

Bradesco posted an average annualized return on equity, a
measure of profitability, of 30.2 percent in the first three
months of the year, down from 34.6 percent in the year-earlier
quarter. The return on equity this year will probably be in line
with the 32 percent posted in 2006, Lembi de Faria said.

The bank's mortgage portfolio reached 669 million reais in
the first quarter and should drive credit expansion in coming
years, Lembi de Faria said.

Fees and Commissions

``We expect the mortgage business will boom very soon in
Brazil,'' Lembi de Faria said. ``We believe there is potential
demand for 3 million houses financed in Brazil, especially for
the median to low income population.''

The bank's fee and commission income grew 25 percent to
2.559 billion reais. Net income at the insurance business rose 15
percent to 529 million reais.

Eleven of 17 analysts who cover Bradesco have a ``buy''
recommendation on the stock, while six have a ``hold'' rating,
according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Banco Itau Holding Financeira SA, Brazil's biggest non-
government bank by market value, will release first-quarter
earnings tomorrow.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Telma Marotto in Sao Paulo at
.

Not all adjustable home loans are created equal

Editor's note: Robert Bruss is temporarily away. The following column from Bruss' "Best of" collection first appeared Sunday, April 16, 2006.

DEAR BOB: In a recent article you said, "Now you know why I never recommend negative-amortization adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs)." Does that mean you changed your advice? I recall your many articles recommended the COFI (cost of funds index) ARMs, which have negative amortization. --Tom C.

DEAR TOM: ARMs that use the COFI do not always have negative amortization where the borrower's monthly payment increases slower than the interest index increases. The result can be the unpaid interest is added to the mortgage balance, thus creating negative amortization.

Purchase Bob Bruss online.

I have never recommended negative-amortization ARMs. Personally, I have had several COFI adjustable-rate mortgages that didn't have negative amortization.

The key question to ask is how often the ARM monthly payment and the index change. If the index rate can change faster than the borrower's monthly payment changes, then negative amortization results, thus increasing the mortgage balance by the unpaid interest amount.

I have not changed my viewpoint. I do not recommend negative amortization ARMs, which can be a very bad deal, especially when the home buyer made a low- or zero-cash down payment.

CAN THREE OWNERS EACH QUALIFY FOR $250,000 HOME-SALE TAX BREAK?

DEAR BOB: I read in your column that two principal residence co-owners (who are not spouses) can each qualify for up to $250,000 of tax-free sales profits under Internal Revenue Code 121. Can three owners of one house qualify? Would $250,000 be available to each co-owner, or is $500,000 the maximum exemption per home sale? Is there any limit to the number of co-owners who can qualify for this tax exemption? --John S.

DEAR JOHN: There is no limit in Internal Revenue Code 121 to the number of $250,000 principal residence sale exemptions if each co-owner qualifies.

However, when the co-owners are not husband and wife, then all their names must be on the title at least 24 of the 60 months before the sale and the property must be the principal residence of each owner for the required 24 of the last 60 months before sale.

An example would be three sisters who own and occupy their principal residence for the required minimum time before selling, thus qualifying for up to $750,000 tax-free sales profits. For further details, please consult your tax adviser.

DON'T GET A REVERSE MORTGAGE UNLESS YOU EXPECT TO LIVE IN THE HOME AT LEAST FIVE YEARS

DEAR BOB: I am way over 65 and live in my condo that is worth around $300,000. The life expectancy of males in my family is only 50 years. I am considering a senior citizen reverse mortgage, or I might sell my condo and invest the sales proceeds. Which option do you feel is best for me? --Wally D.

DEAR WALLY: If you are in reasonably good health for your age, and expect to remain in your home for at least five years, I suggest you seriously consider the benefits of a reverse mortgage.

The reason you should plan to stay in your home at least five years is to amortize the reverse mortgage up-front loan fees. To illustrate, if you are in poor health with a life expectancy of two years, a reverse mortgage would not be a smart decision.

More details are in my special report, "The Whole Truth About Reverse Mortgages for Senior Citizen Homeowners," available for $5 from Robert Bruss, 251 Park Road, Burlingame, CA 94010 or by credit card at 1-800-736-1736 or instant Internet delivery at . Questions for this column are welcome at either address.

(For more information on Bob Bruss publications, visit his ).

Lenders say many won’t be helped by foreclosure delay

BOSTON - Some on the brink of losing their homes will benefit from the foreclosure delays advocated by Gov. , but many are so financially troubled that a delay won’t make a difference, the state’s top lenders association said Tuesday.
    Despite their portrayal by some housing advocates as "predators," subprime mortgage lenders want to help homeowners find better loans because they also lose money on foreclosures, said Kevin Cuff, executive director of the Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association.
    But by the time many cases reach the foreclosure stage, it’s often too late, "whether we wait 60 days or not," said Cuff, whose trade group represents about 300 lenders.
    Patrick should use his influence to bring the nation’s largest lenders, which hold loans on much of the state’s foreclosed properties, into discussions on how to address the state’s high numbers of foreclosures, Cuff said.
    The state had a record 19,487 foreclosure filings last year. Last Wednesday, Patrick announced a plan to lower the foreclosure rate that would include making mortgage fraud a criminal offense and prohibiting abusive foreclosure rescue schemes.
    The next day, Patrick met with Bruce Marks, head of the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America housing advocacy group, and about 24 people in danger of losing their homes. After the meeting, Patrick instructed the state’s banking commissioner to seek, on a case-by-case basis, foreclosure delays from lenders for homebuyers who file a complaint about their mortgages.
    The state has no power to force lenders to negotiate new terms.
    "We hope the lenders will give us the time and work with us to see if there are any homes we can save," said Kofi Jones, spokeswoman for the state Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.
    The subprime lending market, aimed at people with poor credit histories, helps people obtain a mortgage with little or no money down, but generally with interest rates that are high or increase sharply after a short period.
    Marks said subprime lenders target people they know can’t pay the mortgages in order to profit from the numerous fees. Cuff said millions of people who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford a home now have one because of subprime loans.
    Patrick has been criticized for his work with ACC Capital Holdings, parent of the national mortgage company Ameriquest, which has been accused of predatory lending practices. Patrick, a former member of the board of directors of ACC, has said he tried to correct problems at Ameriquest, but his job there has surfaced in the recent debate.
    Cuff said anti-foreclosure advocates have a sympathetic ear because of Patrick’s ties to Ameriquest. House minority leader Brad Jones, R-North Reading, said Patrick may be trying to politically get out in front of an issue that has dogged him.
    "Given the history, it’s certainly a situation where you don’t want to be accused of being behind the curve on what some people think you may have been able to do," he said.
 []1 |  | 

New Zealand Raises Key Interest Rate to Record 7.75% (Update1)

New Zealand's central bank raised
the benchmark interest rate to a record 7.75 percent, the second
increase in seven weeks, because surging housing demand and
consumer spending may fan inflation.

``The resurgence in economic activity that began in late
2006 has continued over recent months, with domestic demand
continuing to expand strongly,'' Reserve Bank Governor Alan
Bollard said in a statement released in Wellington today. ``The
lift in domestic demand is placing further pressure on already-
stretched productive resources.''

Bollard faces the dilemma of trying to cool domestic demand
while limiting the damage to exporters, whose earnings have been
eroded as higher interest rates caused the New Zealand dollar to
surge to a 22-year high. He is trying to curb housing demand and
consumer spending to keep inflation from accelerating to the top
end of the bank's 1 percent-to-3 percent range.

``There is a compelling case for further monetary
tightening,'' Craig Ebert, senior markets economist at Bank of
New Zealand Ltd. in Wellington, said before the report. ``Failing
to tighten now runs the risk of feeding the renewed acceleration
already evident in consumer spending.''

The New Zealand dollar fell to 74.36 U.S. cents at 9:09 a.m.
in Wellington from 74.49 cents immediately before the statement,
in which Bollard refrained from commenting on the likelihood of
further interest rate increases.

Six of 14 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News expected the
increase. More economists expected Bollard would leave interest
rates unchanged today and raise them at his next review on June 7,
allowing him scope to gauge reports on housing, retail spending
and unemployment due the next four weeks.

Bollard raised rates in March for the first time in 15
months, saying that inflation may have accelerated beyond the top
of his target unless he increased borrowing costs.

Inflation Outcomes

Today's increase ``is aimed at ensuring that inflation
outcomes remain consistent with achieving the target,'' he said.

Consumer prices rose 2.6 percent in the 12 months ended
March 31. Still, prices of non-tradable items, which are not
influenced by the currency and better reflect core inflation,
rose by about 4 percent and remain ``persistently strong,''
Bollard said.

Demand is being fueled by a buoyant housing market,
increases in government expenditure, a rising terms of trade,
ongoing net immigration and a robust labor market, he said.

The median house price rose to a record NZ$343,500
($255,000) in March, while home sales rose 9.5 percent from a
year earlier, according to a report from the Real Estate
Institute of New Zealand Inc. on April 19. Retail sales in
February rose 1.9 percent, the fastest pace since March 2004,
according to a government report on April 13.

New Zealand's jobless rate fell to 3.7 percent in the fourth
quarter. Wages for non-government workers rose a record 3.2
percent in 2006.

Capacity Stretched

``Firms report that capacity is very stretched and that they
are again experiencing increased difficulty in finding both
skilled and unskilled staff,'' Bollard said.

New Zealand companies are more optimistic about their
second-quarter trading, according to a New Zealand Institute of
Economic Research Inc. survey. More companies plan to raise
prices and more said it was harder to find workers, a signal that
wages may rise, fanning inflation.

New Zealand's benchmark rate is 7.25 percentage points more
than Japan's and 2.5 points higher than the U.S. Federal Reserve
target, helping the currency surge 18 percent the past year, the
best performing major currency tracked by Bloomberg.

The stronger currency ``is hurting exporters already under
pressure,'' Stephen Koukoulas, global strategist at TD Securities
in London, said in an April 20 report. ``A rate increase could
see the New Zealand dollar spike higher, further escalating the
imbalances within the economy.''

Foreign investors borrow at cheaper rates to buy New Zealand
assets, buoying demand for the currency, which rose to a 22-year-
high of 74.91 U.S. cents on April 18.

`Exceptional, Unjustified'

``The exchange rate is now at levels that are both
exceptional by historical standards, and unjustified on the basis
of medium-term fundamentals,'' Bollard said.

The currency's gain crimps exports, which make up 30 percent
of the $102 billion economy.

Sanford Ltd., New Zealand's largest publicly traded fishing
company, said on April 16 that first-half profit fell because the
strong currency was ``decimating'' earnings and resulting in
foreign exchange losses.

``Parts of the export sector continue to face challenging
conditions,'' Bollard said. Still, the sharp lift in world dairy
prices is expected to provide a boost to incomes in that sector
and tourist arrivals are continuing to grow, he said.

The stronger currency will help curb inflation, Bollard said.
Rising home loan rates may also slow housing demand.

Lenders have increased home-loan interest rates over the
past month. The rate offered by the nation's four biggest banks
on a two-year fixed-interest loan rose to 8.9 percent from about
8.4 percent in February. Variable home loan rates rose a quarter
point to about 9.8 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Tracy Withers in Wellington at
.