tmmonline.nz  |   landlords.co.nz        About Good Returns  |  Advertise  |  Contact Us  |  Terms & Conditions  |  RSS Feeds

NZ's Financial Adviser News Centre

GR Logo
Last Article Uploaded: Tuesday, March 19th, 6:25PM

Mortgages

Mortgage Rates Daily Commentary
Monday 18 March 2024  Add your comment
Activating DTIs and loosening LVRs - NZBA

The New Zealand Banking Association (NZBA) wants the Reserve Bank to loosen proposed debt-to-income (DTI) restrictions because of the internal conservatism of some banks. [READ ON]

rss
Latest Headlines

HomeStart changes meant to open up market

Steep increases in house prices around the country have led the government to boost the income and house price caps in the KiwiSaver HomeStart scheme.

Monday, August 1st 2016, 9:46AM

by Miriam Bell

Starting from today, more New Zealanders will be able to access the KiwiSaver HomeStart scheme to buy their first property.

Building and housing minister Nick Smith has announced the government is increasing the scheme’s income and house price caps

“We are adjusting the income and house price caps to take into account increases in both since the scheme was announced, so as to ensure it achieves its objective of helping middle income earners into a modest home.”

The income caps will increase from $80,000 to $85,000 for a single person and from $120,000 to $130,000 for a couple.

Increases in the house price caps depend on the region.

In Auckland, they are being increased to $600,000 for an existing property and to $650,000 for a new property.

In Wellington, Christchurch, Hamilton, Tauranga, Queenstown and Nelson-Tasman, they are being increased to $500,000 for an existing property and to $550,000 for a new property.

Around the rest of New Zealand, they are being increased to $400,000 for an existing property and to $450,000 for a new property.

The cap for new homes has been increased by an additional $50,000 to help drive growth in residential construction.

Smith said the increases will also be applied to the Welcome Home loans, which enable first home buyers to buy with a 10% deposit and are exempt from LVR ratio limits.

“These changes are about deliberately screwing the scrum in the housing market in favour of first home buyers.

“These HomeStart and Welcome Home loan changes help first home buyers by giving them a cash grant for a deposit, while the Reserve Bank’s capital LVR changes, effective from 1 September, make it harder for low equity housing investors.”

Smith said the changes are one just part of the government’s plan to meet New Zealand’s housing challenge and, over the long term, will help improve home ownership.

However, Labour Party leader Andrew Little said the HomeStart changes were just more tinkering from a government that has lost its grip on the housing crisis.

“It is good news for many would-be first homebuyers outside our biggest city that the Housing Minister is raising the thresholds but, for those in Auckland, the government’s failure to address the housing crisis means houses are simply not being built for $650,000.”

Little said it was hard to find a house for sale for under $600,000 in Auckland.

“The government needs to build affordable homes and crack down on speculators – the two things that would actually make a difference in Auckland.”

Tags: banks KiwiSaver Lending

« Fall in mortgage lendingBank risk real LVR target »

Special Offers

Comments from our readers

No comments yet

Sign In to add your comment

 

print

Printable version  

print

Email to a friend
Mortgage Rates Table

Full Rates Table | Compare Rates

Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
AIA - Back My Build 6.19 - - -
AIA - Go Home Loans 8.74 7.24 6.79 6.65
ANZ 8.64 7.84 7.39 7.25
ANZ Blueprint to Build 7.39 - - -
ANZ Good Energy - - - 1.00
ANZ Special - 7.24 6.79 6.65
ASB Bank 8.64 7.24 6.79 6.65
ASB Better Homes Top Up - - - 1.00
Avanti Finance 9.15 - - -
Basecorp Finance 9.60 - - -
Bluestone 9.24 - - -
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
BNZ - Classic - 7.24 6.79 6.65
BNZ - Green Home Loan top-ups - - - 1.00
BNZ - Mortgage One 8.69 - - -
BNZ - Rapid Repay 8.69 - - -
BNZ - Std, FlyBuys 8.69 7.84 7.39 7.25
BNZ - TotalMoney 8.69 - - -
CFML Loans 9.45 - - -
China Construction Bank - 7.09 6.75 6.49
China Construction Bank Special - - - -
Co-operative Bank - First Home Special - 7.04 - -
Co-operative Bank - Owner Occ 8.40 7.24 ▼6.79 ▼6.65
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
Co-operative Bank - Standard 8.40 7.74 ▼7.29 ▼7.15
Credit Union Auckland 7.70 - - -
First Credit Union Special - 7.45 7.35 -
First Credit Union Standard 8.50 7.99 7.85 -
Heartland Bank - Online 7.99 6.69 6.45 6.19
Heartland Bank - Reverse Mortgage - - - -
Heretaunga Building Society 8.90 7.60 7.40 -
HSBC Premier 8.59 - - -
HSBC Premier LVR > 80% - - - -
HSBC Special - - - -
ICBC 7.85 7.05 ▼6.75 6.59
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
Kainga Ora 8.64 7.79 ▼7.39 ▼7.25
Kainga Ora - First Home Buyer Special - - - -
Kiwibank 8.50 8.25 7.79 7.55
Kiwibank - Offset 8.50 - - -
Kiwibank Special - 7.25 6.79 6.65
Liberty 8.59 8.69 8.79 8.94
Nelson Building Society 9.00 7.75 7.35 -
Pepper Money Advantage 10.49 - - -
Pepper Money Easy 8.69 - - -
Pepper Money Essential 8.29 - - -
Resimac - LVR < 80% 8.84 8.30 7.89 7.69
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
Resimac - LVR < 90% 9.84 9.30 8.89 8.69
Resimac - Specialist Clear (Alt Doc) - - 8.99 -
Resimac - Specialist Clear (Full Doc) - - 9.49 -
SBS Bank 8.74 7.84 7.45 7.25
SBS Bank Special - 7.24 6.85 6.65
SBS Construction lending for FHB - - - -
SBS FirstHome Combo 6.19 6.74 - -
SBS FirstHome Combo - - - -
SBS Unwind reverse equity 9.95 - - -
Select Home Loans 9.24 - - -
TSB Bank 9.44 8.04 7.55 7.45
Lender Flt 1yr 2yr 3yr
TSB Special 8.64 7.24 6.75 6.65
Unity 8.64 6.99 ▼6.79 -
Unity First Home Buyer special - - 6.45 -
Wairarapa Building Society 8.60 7.15 6.85 -
Westpac 8.64 7.89 7.49 7.25
Westpac Choices Everyday 8.74 - - -
Westpac Offset 8.64 - - -
Westpac Special - 7.29 6.89 6.65
Median 8.64 7.29 7.32 6.65

Last updated: 14 March 2024 9:32am

Previous News

MORE NEWS»

News Bites
Compare Mortgage Rates
Compare
From
To
For

To graph multiple lenders, hold down Ctrl key while clicking in list box

Also compare rates to OCR
Find a Mortgage Broker

Add your company

Use map
About Us  |  Advertise  |  Contact Us  |  Terms & Conditions  |  Privacy Policy  |  RSS Feeds  |  Letters  |  Archive  |  Toolbox  |  Disclaimer
 
Site by Web Developer and eyelovedesign.com