PHOTO: SUPPLIED As part of its KiwiBuild reset, the Government is rebranding its Welcome Home Loan scheme as a First Home Loan, for which borrowers only need a 5 per cent deposit.
First-home buyers are being offered the possibility of 5 per cent mortgages – but chances are, they still might not be able to access them.
As part of its KiwiBuild reset, the Government is rebranding its Welcome Home Loan scheme as a First Home Loan, for which borrowers only need a 5 per cent deposit.
That’s reduced from the Welcome Home Loan’s requirement of 10 per cent.
Banks such as ASB had already been offering 5 per cent loans for KiwiBuild properties but this potentially expands the reach to homes outside that scheme.
Borrowers must have an individual income of $85,000 or a household income of $130,000.
Houses can be up to $650,000 in Auckland and Queenstown, $550,000 in the other main centres and $500,000 in the rest of New Zealand.
But data from Homes.co.nz shows only 1742 of 6878 sales this year in Auckland have been within that price cap.
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