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First Home Loans
The First Home Loans product has been put in place to help first home buyers purchase a property for themselves.
For many home buyers, the problem with getting a normal home loan is finding the deposit. Most lenders currently require a minimum 20 percent deposit.
With a First Home Loans you only need a 5% percent deposit.
Help with your deposit is available.
There are several deposit assistance options available:
- Your deposit can be gifted by a relative (Please contact us for clarification around gifting rules).
- You can apply for a KiwiSaver Deposit Subsidy or KiwiSaver Savings Withdrawal.
- Team up and you can with other borrowers put together your deposit and purchase a home.
Maximum amount you can borrow:
Maximum amount you can borrow:
The maximum amount you can borrow with a First Home Loans depends on the region you are buying in. Each region has a maximum house price cap. The maximum loan for that region is the house price cap less your 5 percent deposit.
Find out your regional purchase price cap below.
Additionally, to incentivise the supply of new builds, the Minister has established a second tier of house price caps. For new builds, each house price cap is $50,000 greater than the cap
|
Region |
House price cap for existing/older properties |
House price cap for new properties |
|---|---|---|
|
Auckland |
$700,000 |
$750,000 |
|
Queenstown - Lake District |
$650,000 |
$700,000 |
|
Wellington City, Hutt City, Upper Hutt City, Porirua City, Kāpiti Coast District |
$650,000 |
$700,000 |
|
Nelson City, Tasman District, Tauranga City, Western Bay of Plenty District, Hamilton City, Waipā District, Hastings District, Napier City |
$600,000 |
$650,000 |
|
Christchurch City, Selwyn District, Waimakariri District |
$500,000 |
$550,000 |
|
Waikato District, Dunedin City |
$550,000 |
$600,000 |
|
Rest of New Zealand |
$500,000 |
$550,000 |
There are two income caps that apply for a First Home Loans.
- For one borrower you must have earned no more than $95,000.00 (before tax) in the last 12 months.
- If you are borrowing with one or more other people you must have a combined household income of $150,000 or less (before tax) in the last 12 months.
Are you eligible for a First Home Loans?
You will need to meet the specific lending criteria below.
- You must be a New Zealand citizen or a permanent New Zealand resident (There are some exclusions to this).
- Have worked with the same employer for 12 months (there are some cases where this can be 6 months)
- Cannot earn over the limits put in place
- Cannot purchase property over capped limits
- Cannot currently own property anywhere in the world (If you have owned property in the past there a couple of circumstances where the First Home Loans product can be used).
Other things you need to know:
- The First Home Loans is for owner occupied properties only and cannot be used for rental or investment properties.
- You must not own any other property.
- You may need to pay fees such as application fees or Lenders Mortgage Insurance fees.
Latest News
Published by Scott Miller
Today's announcement on Mortgage Holidays
With today’s announcement by the Finance Minister about 6-month mortgage holidays, we have been inundated by enquiries from our clients.