Distressed home loans reach record highs

The latest figures from Centrix and the RBNZ show the drop in interest rates is not yet helping the surge in mortgage arrears and non-performing loans.

Mortgage arrears reached an eight year high last month, with 23,700 home loans past due, a 6% year-on-year increase, Centrix data show.

Looking at seasonally adjusted mortgage delinquencies, there are signs of early arrears stabilising, but 90 plus days arrears are still rising, Keith McLaughlin, Centrix managing director says. 

He says it will be interesting to see how changes to interest rates across the banks impact these figures as the year progresses. About half of all mortgages are due to roll onto new interest rates over the next six months.