PHOTO: RBNZ
The latest Reserve Bank figures show mortgage approvals fell by over 34% in May, 2020 – compared to this time last year.
Year-on-year falls in new mortgage commitments were widespread. In Auckland, new
mortgage commitments fell 31.2%, while new commitments outside of Auckland fell 34.9%.
Key points for May 2020:
Total monthly new mortgage commitments were $4.3b in May. This is an increase of $1.6b
(57.1%), compared with April 2020, but down 33.3% from May 2019.
New mortgage commitments to first home buyers increased from $0.5b in April to $0.8b in
May and other occupiers increased from $1.7b in April to $2.6b in May.
First home buyers accounted for 18.5% of new mortgage commitments, up from 17.6% in
April. Investors accounted for 20.7% of new mortgage commitments, up from 20.4% in April.
In response to the economic impact of COVID-19, the Reserve Bank removed mortgage loan – to-valuation (LVR) restrictions for 12 months, effective from 1 May 2020.
In May, 14.2% of new mortgage commitments without investment property collateral had an
LVR share of over 80% after exemptions. For investors, 1.5% of new mortgage commitments
had an LVR of over 70% after exemptions.
| Previous years: | Monthly: | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2018 | May 2019 | Jan 2020 | Feb 2020 | Mar 2020 | Apr 2020 | May 2020 | |
| Total lending ($million) | |||||||
| All borrower types | 6,592 | 6,470 | 4,714 | 5,579 | 6,181 | 2,749 | 4,318 |
| First home buyer | 1,116 | 1,150 | 889 | 938 | 1,137 | 484 | 801 |
| Other owner occupier | 3,844 | 4,113 | 2,811 | 3,448 | 3,667 | 1,659 | 2,586 |
| Investor | 1,561 | 1,140 | 951 | 1,135 | 1,319 | 561 | 895 |
| Business purposes | 71 | 68 | 63 | 58 | 58 | 45 | 36 |
| Higher than 80% LVR lending ($million) | |||||||
| All borrower types | 556 | 707 | 508 | 562 | 624 | 272 | 515 |
| First home buyer | 376 | 480 | 358 | 371 | 433 | 196 | 355 |
| Other owner occupier | 171 | 222 | 144 | 186 | 184 | 74 | 153 |
| Investor | 9 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 5 |
| Business purposes | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Less than or equal to 80% LVR lending ($million) | |||||||
| All borrower types | 6,036 | 5,764 | 4,206 | 5,017 | 5,557 | 2,477 | 3,803 |
| First home buyer | 740 | 670 | 531 | 567 | 704 | 288 | 445 |
| Other owner occupier | 3,673 | 3,891 | 2,667 | 3,262 | 3,482 | 1,585 | 2,432 |
| Investor | 1,552 | 1,135 | 945 | 1,131 | 1,313 | 559 | 890 |
| Business purposes | 71 | 68 | 63 | 56 | 58 | 45 | 36 |
| MEMO ITEM: Lending to investors ($million) | |||||||
| Total lending | 1,561 | 1,140 | 951 | 1,135 | 1,319 | 561 | 895 |
| Higher than 70% LVR lending | 217 | 152 | 139 | 159 | 190 | 84 | 134 |
| Less than or equal to 70% LVR lending | 1,343 | 988 | 812 | 976 | 1,128 | 477 | 762 |
READ MORE VIA RBNZ
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