Despite a recession, the number and value of home loans were up by 21% in the second half of last year, compared to the first half.

Although carded one- and two-year fixed mortgage rates are now about 200 basis points (bp) below last year’s high the vast majority of lower mortgage rates have yet to flow though.

Lobby group the Banking Reform Coalition wants the FMA to use its powers under the new Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) regime to get tough on banks not passing on OCR cuts in mortgage rates immediately.

Kiwibank says the economic environment simply demands more interest rate relief.

Newly minted HomeSec New Zealand manager Ziggy Munz is confident residential mortgage advisers will be able to add another arrow to their lending bow after an education programme he is planning.

Two-year fixed mortgage rates are starting to slowly eat into the share of total lending by banks.

Westpac is going boldly where no other economists have gone. It says dropping the OCR on Wednesday is likely the wrong thing to do.

The Commerce Commission says its proposal that advisers have to submit three offers to clients has been "lost in translation".

As the country crawls out of recession, mortgage arrears have dropped slightly.

After a “constructive meeting” with new Commerce and Consumers Affairs Minister Scott Simpson, FAMNZ country manager Leigh Hodgetts says he seems to understand the Commerce Commission’s insistence on mortgage advisers presenting three completed offers to borrowers will create chaos.

A switch has been flipped for mortgage borrowers with the two-year 4.99% interest rate the main banks are now offering.

Switching to a new loan provider is still proving popular for mortgage borrowers.

The country’s biggest adviser network NZFSG says banks are acutely aware of pain points for advisers.

Mortgage advisers have a lot more power than they realise when it comes to banks pushing out mortgage application times.

While the economy took its first step into recovery and ended 2024 on a better note, there are still pockets of significant weakness.

Compared to other countries, New Zealand’s banks infighting is mainly on cashbacks rather than interest rates in the mortgage sector.