Mortgages

Before the epidemic struck, in most parts of NZ, home prices had been booming for some time. Reasons for this included record low mortgage rates, building and land restrictions, high immigration, and high levels of employment. The property market is about to undergo a rapid change due to the flow on effect from the virus-related economic slowdown. It is a near certainty there will be a... Read more Read more

Buying a house, especially when you’re younger is still an incredibly smart financial decision in the majority of cases. Home ownership is accepted as the cornerstone of wealth for most New Zealanders, with a debt-free home by retirement being the most common life goal. On the flipside, society is changing and there have never been more choices for Kiwis to build wealth too. So, here... Read more Read more

When you’re house hunting, the amount you can afford to spend is all-important. After all, you don’t want to end up house poor, or worse-still, unable to maintain your mortgage repayments should your situation change, or mortgage rates substantially increase. In general, we’ll hardly ever encourage anyone to spend more on a home – in fact, the opposite is much more likely the case!... Read more Read more

In its May Financial Stability Report, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand revealed the results of stress tests designed to assess the vulnerability of households to service their mortgages if rates rise. Its findings show a high number of owner-occupier households would be under financial stress if rates jump, which could collapse the housing market as defaults rise and demand weakens... Read more Read more

In a word, yes, NZ interest rates are likely to fall further. Here’s why: NZ’s term deposit rate is much higher than in similar developed countries, including Australia, the UK, and Sweden. The Deputy of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) recently cited this as a reason the RBNZ had to do more to bring the interest rates down. The RBNZ is NZ’s central bank. Central bankers... Read more Read more