Ask First Home Buy
Ask anything about buying your first home in Aotearoa — no account, no sign-in. We read every question and publish a few each week.
Answers are general information, not personalised financial advice. For advice specific to your situation, speak with a qualified professional.
Answered
Our answer
It depends on your income, debts and deposit, and most NZ banks lend around 5 to 6 times household income. Use the Borrowing Power tab in our calculator for a personalised estimate.
Our answer
Most banks ask for a 20% deposit, though some first-home buyers can borrow with as little as 5 to 10% through low-deposit lending or First Home Loans. Enter your savings in the calculator to see where you stand.
Our answer
A stress test checks whether you could still afford your repayments if interest rates rose. Use the Stress Test tab in the calculator to see your repayments at higher rates.
Our answer
Log in to your KiwiSaver provider to see your balance, and remember you must keep at least $1,000 in your account. Add the amount you can withdraw to your savings in the calculator to see your full deposit.
Our answer
Mortgage cashback is a one-off cash payment some NZ banks offer when you take out or refinance a home loan with them, usually paid shortly after settlement. Cashback amounts and conditions (including clawback periods if you switch banks again too soon) vary by lender and change regularly, so it's worth comparing current offers directly with banks or a mortgage broker before deciding.
Our answer
No — the First Home Grant was discontinued and is no longer available. Current government support for first home buyers mainly comes through the Kāinga Ora First Home Loan (which allows as little as a 5% deposit) and the KiwiSaver first home withdrawal.
Our answer
Short answer : it depends heavily on which path you take, and it's not always the 20% most people assume.
The commonly quoted figure is 20% of the purchase price, and that's still the benchmark most banks work from for standard lending. On a $900,000 Auckland property, that's $180,000, which is exactly the number that makes a lot of people give up before they've properly explored their options.
But 20% isn't a legal requirement, it's a lending preference, and there are real, commonly-used pathways to buy with less:
5% deposit, via the Kāinga Ora First Home Loan. This is a government-underwritten loan available through select lenders, and it comes with income caps, currently $95,000 for a single borrower and $150,000 combined for two or more borrowers, plus a property price cap that varies by region and is worth checking directly on the Kāinga Ora site since Auckland's cap is a genuine constraint given local prices.
10% deposit for new builds. New build properties are generally exempt from standard LVR speed limits, meaning banks can lend up to 90% LVR without needing to use their restricted low-deposit lending allowance, which is one reason new builds get talked about a lot in first-home-buyer circles.
Less than 20% through standard lending, but it's competitive. Banks can still write some loans above 80% LVR for owner-occupiers, but this is capped at a portion of each bank's overall lending, currently around a quarter of new owner-occupier loans, so approval isn't guaranteed even if you technically qualify, it depends on the bank's remaining allocation at the time.
Worth knowing regardless of the path: a smaller deposit generally means a higher interest rate and possibly an extra low-equity fee, so the number that gets you in the door isn't necessarily the number that makes the most financial sense long-term. It's genuinely a trade-off between getting started sooner versus paying more over the life of the loan, not a simple "smaller is better" or "bigger is better" answer.
What I'd actually do with this question: run your own numbers through our calculator and stress test tools to see what different deposit levels mean for your specific weekly repayments, and speak with a mortgage broker who can look at your income, existing debt, and KiwiSaver balance together, since eligibility for the lower-deposit pathways depends on your full financial picture, not just the deposit percentage on its own.
This is general information, not personalized financial advice. Speak with a mortgage adviser or broker about what applies to your situation.
Our answer
In most cases yes — if you have not owned property for a while you may qualify as a "second-chance" home buyer through Kāinga Ora. You must have belonged to KiwiSaver for at least 3 years and meet the income/asset criteria. Check your eligibility with Kāinga Ora before counting on it.