First Home Buyers - June 4th What Are Debt-to-income (DTI) Ratios? In an attempt to further strengthen financial stability in New Zealand, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) has introduced new debt-to-income (DTI) restrictions on banks' mortgage lending. But what are DTI ratios and how will …
First Home Buyers - May 24th How to Buy a House with a Small Deposit It’s been a tough few years for first home buyers (FHBs). First, house prices soared, due to pandemic-induced low interest rates. Then, as a consequence of rising inflation, mortgage rates more than doubled. In August 2021, …
First Home Buyers - May 23rd KiwiSaver First Home Buyers Withdrawal: 11 Useful Steps House hunting is stressful enough, without finding out you missed a step toward KiwiSaver first home withdrawal approval. To avoid a nasty surprise at the last moment, there are a number of things you need to …
First Home Buyers - May 23rd What was the Kāinga Ora First Home Grant? As of May 22, 2024, Kāinga Ora stopped accepting applications for its First Home Grant. However, while the cash grant is no longer available, Kāinga Ora is still running its First Home Loan scheme, which …
First Home Buyers - May 23rd What is the First Home Loan? It's always been tough to save a deposit to buy a first home. However, there is some assistance available for first home buyers. And one option is the First Home Loan from Kāinga Ora. So …
First Home Buyers - May 23rd What is a Mortgagee Sale? What is a mortgagee sale? People often use the terms "home loans" and "mortgages" interchangeably, but there's a subtle difference. A mortgage is essentially a guarantee on a property. When a bank lends money, it requires …
First Home Buyers - May 23rd Help for First Home Buyers: What’s on Offer? First home buyers (FHBs) have got it tough. House prices remain sky-high, but all is not lost. There is some assistance available to FHBs. Canstar explores the First Home Loan and incentives on offer in NZ. Help …
First Home Buyers - April 3rd What is Non-Bank Mortgage Lending in New Zealand? All home loans are mortgages, but not all mortgages are issued by banks. Last year in New Zealand, around 1.6% of mortgages were issued by non-bank lenders. While that's not a huge amount, it's still …
First Home Buyers - April 2nd Squirrel’s Top Tips to Save Thousands on You Mortgage One of the not so awesome truths about homeownership is that over lifetime of your mortgage, on a typical New Zealand house, it’s not uncommon to fork out almost as much in interest payments as …
First Home Buyers - April 1st What are the Average Interest Rates on NZ Home Loans? Not all mortgages are created equal. Many variables affect the interest rates on offer. These include your choice of lender, the size of your deposit, and whether you're an investor, a first home buyer or …
