The government's pilot plan to assist first-home buyers into their own homes has so far helped 850 families buy houses with mortgages totalling nearly $100 million, according to Kiwibank, which administers the scheme.
Sunday, March 20th 2005, 5:17AM
by The Landlord
The scheme, which began in September 2003, is set to run for two years and the plan allowed for up to 1,600 loans over that period.
The current rate of progress suggests the pilot scheme will fall short of that target which it ends this September.
"What it suggests is that the lack of a deposit is not the real problem," says David Tripe of Massey University's centre for banking studies.
Under the scheme initially, couples with joint incomes up to $50,000 or groups of three or more with joint incomes of $100,000 could qualify for loans of up to $100,000 without a deposit and for houses costing up to $200,000 with a deposit of only 5 per cent.
That 5 per cent could be gifted rather than the applicant having to prove a savings record.
In December last year, the government increased the earnings limit of a couple to $65,000 and the amount they could borrow without a deposit up to $150,000.
