Lending growth on a steady path upwards

That means borrowers could be sitting on a rate that is typically somewhere between 1.5% to 2% above fixed rates for nearly three months.

Although the Reserve Bank says it will probably cut the OCR by another 0.5% in February and make slower 0.25% cuts after that until it reaches a 3% neutral rate in mid-2026, some mortgage advisers are saying much can happen before then and borrowers should be cautious and perhaps switch to a one year fixed rate to take advantage of lower rates in a year’s time

While mortgage rates fall, there is a solid growth in overall lending with new mortgages up 15.1% to $7.5 billion in October from $6.5 billion in September. That is a big 30.4% increase on the $5.7 billion lent in October last year.

Noticeable in the figures is the rebound of investors. Their share of new mortgages rose to 22.7%, up from 21.1% in September and substantially above their 17.7% share in October last year.