KEY POINTS:
- The average mortgage used to purchase a home in New Zealand in 2025 is $588,558.
- The average first home buyer mortgage in New Zealand is $568,846.
- The average investor mortgage in 2025 in New Zealand is $541,484.
- The average loan top-up in NZ in 2025 is $100,290.
There’s no disputing that the housing market has been in the doldrums for the past couple of years. REINZ‘s stats show that the country’s median house price has remained static since 2023, at around $780k, down 14% from 2021’s high of $905k.
However, overall, the property market’s rebalance has been a good thing for potential home buyers, who currently have a lot of housing stock to choose from and the upper hand when it comes to price negotiations.
The buyer’s market is reflected by current mortgage figures, which show a steady rise in buyer activity, particularly investor numbers, while average mortgage sizes are back to 2022 levels.
Here’s a quick breakdown of average mortgage sizes in New Zealand, and you can find a more detailed rundown of the stats below:
| Total lending ($million) | 2024 | 2025 so far |
|---|---|---|
| Average mortgage used to purchase house | $566,914 | $588,558 (3.8%) |
| Average first home buyer mortgage | $554,772 | $568,846 (2.5%) |
| Average owner-occupier mortgage | $309,957 | $317,552 (2.5%) |
| Average investor mortgage | $533,764 | $541,484 (1.5%) |
| Average mortgage top-up | $101,014 | $100,290 (-0.7) |
In this article:
First Home Buyer Loan Rates
If you’re currently considering a home loan, the table below displays some of the 2-year fixed-rate home loans on our database (some may have links to lenders’ websites) that are available for first home buyers. This table is sorted by Star Rating (highest to lowest), followed by company name (alphabetical). Products shown are principal and interest home loans available for a loan amount of $500K in Auckland. Before committing to a particular home loan product, check upfront with your lender and read the applicable loan documentation to confirm whether the terms of the loan meet your needs and repayment capacity. Use Canstar’s home loan selector to view a wider range of home loan products. Canstar may earn a fee for referrals.
Total Home Loan Borrowing
So far this year, mortgage lending has been strong. If it continues at the same rate over the second half of the year, 2025’s figures will be well above the numbers recorded over the past three years.
| Total lending ($million) | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All borrower types | $68,948 | $62,116 | $75,261 | $43,889 |
| First home buyers | $13,349 | $14,677 | $15,963 | $8527 |
| Other owner-occupiers | $43,046 | $35,995 | $43,217 | $25,514 |
| Investors | $11,716 | $10,554 | $15,034 | $9287 |
| Business purposes | $836 | $889 | $1048 | $561 |
Number of Home Loan Borrowers
There’s been a steady rise in the number of borrowers, too:
| Total No. Borrowers | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All borrower types | 181,016 | 173,814 | 199,715 | 114,205 |
| First home buyers | 23,275 | 26,390 | 28,774 | 14,990 |
| Other owner-occupiers | 132,581 | 123,062 | 139,429 | 80,346 |
| Investors | 22,321 | 21,403 | 28,166 | 17,151 |
| Business purposes | 2839 | 2959 | 3346 | 1718 |
Average Home Loan by Type
Loan sizes are back to 2022 levels:
| Average Mortgage | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 so far (YoY%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| All borrower types | $380,895 | $357,371 | $376,842 | $384,300 (1.0%) |
| First home buyers | $573,534 | $556,158 | $554,772 | $568,846 (2.5%) |
| Other owner-occupiers | $324,677 | $292,495 | $309,957 | $317,552 (2.5%) |
| Investors | $524,887 | $493,108 | $533,764 | $541,484 (1.4%) |
| Business Purposes | $294,470 | $300,439 | $313,210 | $326,542 (4.3%) |
Average Home Loan By Purpose
If you drill down into the numbers and look only at mortgages for the purpose of buying a home, the size of the average Kiwi mortgage becomes clear. It’s also interesting see the benchmark for the average mortgage top-up is around $100,000.
| Average Mortgage | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 so far (YoY%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Property purchases | $600,078 | $548,804 | $566,914 | $588,558 (1.0%) |
| Top-ups | $110,857 | $100,968 | $101,014 | $100,290 (2.5%) |
Average Home Loan Repayments
By feeding the above figures into Canstar’s home loan repayment calculator, you can see the monthly repayments needed to service the mortgages.
The following calculations are for a loan repayment on principal and interest, paid monthly over 25 years, using the average 2-year fixed rates on Canstar’s database for residential mortgages (5.02%) and investor lending (5.11%).
Approx monthly repayments on average new home loans
| Borrower type | Average mortgage/repayments |
|---|---|
| Property purchases | $588,558 – $3447/m |
| First home buyers | $568,846 – $3332/m |
| Other owner-occupiers | $317,552 – $1860/m |
| Investors | $541,484 – $3200/m |
So, if you’re looking to buy a property, how does your possible mortgage compare with the current averages, and what type of rate is your lender offering?
Compare with Canstar for the Cheapest Mortgage Rates
While the cheapest mortgage rates are important, when looking for the best mortgage, you do need to look at more than just interest charges. When Canstar compares and rates mortgages and mortgage lenders, our expert researchers look at each home loan and awards points for the array of features it offers and its comparative price, which includes rates and fees.
The best products then receive our 5-Star Ratings for Outstanding Value. We place a lot of importance on our ratings, which is why the comparison grids below are sorted first by Star Rating, highest to lowest. However, if you want to compare by lowest rates instead, just click through to access our full mortgage rate comparison tables.
Best Mortgage Rates for Refinancing
The table below displays some of the 2-year fixed-rate home loans on our database (some may have links to lenders’ websites) that are available for home owners looking to refinance. This table is sorted by Star Rating (highest to lowest), followed by company name (alphabetical). Products shown are principal and interest home loans available for a loan amount of $500K in Auckland. Before committing to a particular home loan product, check upfront with your lender and read the applicable loan documentation to confirm whether the terms of the loan meet your needs and repayment capacity. Use Canstar’s home loan selector to view a wider range of home loan products. Canstar may earn a fee for referrals.
Compare Cheapest Home Loan Rates
About the author of this page
Bruce Pitchers is Canstar NZ’s Content Manager. An experienced finance reporter, he has three decades’ experience as a journalist and has worked for major media companies in Australia, the UK and NZ, including ACP, Are Media, Bauer Media Group, Fairfax, Pacific Magazines, News Corp and TVNZ. As a freelancer, he has worked for The Australian Financial Review, the NZ Financial Markets Authority and major banks and investment companies on both sides of the Tasman.
In his role at Canstar, he has been a regular commentator in the NZ media, including on the Driven, Stuff and One Roof websites, the NZ Herald, Radio NZ, and Newstalk ZB.
Away from Canstar, Bruce creates puzzles for magazines and newspapers, including Woman’s Day and New Idea. He is also the co-author of the murder-mystery puzzle book 5 Minute Murder.
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