Kiwis renew interest in home lending

Tuesday 6th March 2012

New Zealanders are testing the waters to ramp up their mortgage debt, with a 23 percent jump in mortgage inquiries over the past three months, according to credit bureau Veda.

That increase over the December-through-February period is across all age brackets, and was the biggest number of applications since 2005. Veda data shows the number applications in February was 29 percent higher than the same month a year ago, and follows Barfoot & Thompson data earlier this week showing a sharp rise in the number of Auckland house sales.

“We know the Auckland property market is heating up and the rest of the country will follow,” managing director John Roberts said in a statement. “These statistics tell us what is coming down the track – there is a lot more heat in the property market and interest is well above pre-GFC (global financial crisis) levels.”

New Zealand’s property market has been in the doldrums for the past couple of years as a lack of listings artificially bolsters house prices and kept activity near record low.

Reserve Bank figures show a similar story, with the central bank’s experimental housing loan approvals series showing a 24 percent jump in the value of approvals to $1.07 billion in the week ended Feb. 24 from a year earlier, on a 5.5 percent lift in the number of approvals that week to 6,409.

(BusinessDesk)

BusinessDesk.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet