New Zealand property values rose at the slowest annual pace in 15 months in September, while certainty after the general election, new spring listings and interest rates remaining on hold renewed interest in the market, according to state-owned valuer Quotable Values. Property values rose 6.4 percent nationwide in September from a year earlier, slowing from an annual pace of 6.9 percent …

The biggest winner in today’s new Cabinet line-up from Prime Minister John Key is Simon Bridges, who moves from 18th to ninth in the rankings and picks up the politically important transport portfolio from Gerry Brownlee. Returning to the environment portfolio, previously held by Amy Adams, is Nick Smith, signalling a softening in the government’s intended reforms to the Resource …

New Zealand employment confidence rose to a six-year high in the September quarter as sentiment in Canterbury bolstered the nation’s outlook on jobs, according to the latest Westpac McDermott Miller Employment Confidence Index survey. The index rose to 111.5 in the September quarter from 109.9 in the June quarter, in a measure were a number above 100 indicates optimists outweigh pessimists. …