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. Squirrel often beats the advertised rates so it's worth getting them to review your mortgage.
Ryan
New Zealand
The service I got from Squirrel was extremely efficient. They dealt with my loan so easily and achieved a result greater than what I was expecting.
Jo
New Zealand
Highly recommend Squirrel to sort out a mortgage with the banks takes the hassle out of going to separate banks with so much information they do the hard yards for you - Baz was a superstar and helped me all the way to my new home.
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Popular Mortgage Rate Terms
For borrowers wanting shorter-term flexibility. Popular when mortgage rates are rising as it tends to be the cheapest or when rates are falling so borrowers aren't locked in long term.
This is the most popular fixed rate mortgage term with almost half of mortgages in New Zealand being on a two-year term. It is also the term that banks are most competitive on.
Borrowers who want more long term certainty opt for a three-year fixed rate. Most borrowers tend to not think beyond three years.
Types of Mortgages
Provided the borrower has more than twenty percent equity, most lenders will allow interest-only repayments for a period of up to five years. After that the loan reverts to principle and interest repayments over its remaining term.
A fixed rate mortgage can be principal and interest or interest-only. The rate and regular repayment amount are fixed for a set term of up to five years. At the end of the fixed term, the loan will revert to a floating rate but can be re-fixed. If a borrower repays a fixed rate mortgage early, they might get charged an early repayment cost.
Read furtherhere.
Floating rate mortgages have a floating rate that only tends to move whenever the Reserve Bank moves the Official Cash Rate (OCR). Floating rates tend to be more expensive, but have greater flexibility. They can be repaid without cost and can be set up as revolving credits or offset mortgages.
Read furtherhere.
A revolving credit is essentially an overdraft on a transaction account, but at floating mortgage rates. It gives the borrower flexibility to pay it off as fast as they like, and it can be drawn down again by transacting on the account. It can be a way to store unused credit limit, or have a "safety buffer."
An offset mortgage allows the borrower to offset any savings against their mortgage before interest is calculated. The benefit is similar to a revolving credit but also allows funds to sit over multiple accounts which can be useful if the borrower has multiple financial goals.
Types of Lenders
