Compare the rates
Five major banks write 94% of mortgages in New Zealand, which makes them our 'big five'.
Calculate how much cash you could save
Try out our refinance calculator to see if you could save on interest or get cash immediately by refinancing to a new bank.
Reasons to review your mortgage
Keen for the best rate and some cash too?
We've teamed up with award winning mortgage experts, Squirrel.
With over 1,425 five star reviews on Shopper Approved, Squirrel has helped thousands of Kiwis just like you secure the best possible rate when refixing or refinancing.
Katie
New Zealand
Our experience with Squirrel has been fantastic. Our Advisor was friendly and professional and made what can be a stressful and complex process very seamless for us. We are thrilled with our outcome.
Martin
New Zealand
Helped me get an improved rate and sorted out my needs. Great communication, kept me up to date throughout the process.
Get a free mortgage review
Could we see three-year fixed rates at 4.95% by Christmas?
Lenders were quick to drop their floating rates in response to last week's 0.50% OCR reduction, and we're starting to see the bene...
Read More
Bumper cut takes OCR down to 4.75%
On 9th October, the RBNZ stepped up the pace on rate reductions, announcing a 0.50% cut to the OCR. Here's what that means for mor...
Read More
Competition likely to heat up amongst the banks following next OCR cut
It's looking increasingly likely that next week's OCR announcement could bring a 0.50% reduction, tipping one-year fixed rates bel...
Read MoreWhat type of borrower are you?
How much can you borrow?
Top 5 FAQs
When purchasing an owner-occupied property you can generally borrow around five times your gross annual income. Lenders will require evidence that you're in a position to service the mortgage based on paying it off over 30 years, and at a mortgage rate of around 7.50% (higher than actual rates). If you have a rental property, 75% of the rental income can be included for testing your ability to afford the loan.
Banks offer better mortgage rates (and cash backs) to customers that have at least a 20% deposit. You must have at least a 10% deposit to access your KiwiSaver, so this is where most lenders draw the line. Banks are permitted to have 15% of their owner-occupied borrowers with less than 20% deposit. The cut-off for rental properties is a 30% deposit.
New properties are exempt from Reserve Bank restrictions, making it possible to buy a new property with as little as a 5% deposit, but the issue with KiwiSaver still applies.
90% of the market is on fixed mortgage rates because they are lower than floating rates. The most popular fixed rate term is the 2-year term as it tends to be the term that banks compete the most aggressively on. Longer term fixed rates provide more certainty. When mortgage rates are low it can be a good time to consider fixing into a longer term fixed rate. Be wary of early repayment fees, and if you repay a fixed rate mortgage early you might have to pay a cost.
Splitting your home loan across multiple fixed rate terms means your entire loan won't mature at once. It allows you to always have part of your loan maturing that you can make lump sum payments into as well as the certainty of having part of your loan still fixed. If mortgage rates are going up, splitting your loans will smooth out the impact and make it easier to adjust to higher rates.
When you repay a fixed rate loan early, the lender also needs to break its fixed rate funding. This is a real cost to the lender, which the lender passes on to you as a fee. These costs only typically occur if mortgage rates drop between when you fix and when you repay. Roughly it’s the rate difference applied to the loan balance over what would have been its remaining fixed rate term.