Summary: Banks are turning away purchasers who have less than a 20% deposit; however, if you buy a property that is brand new, then you can look at using a 10% deposit.
These days, many home owners are being told by their banks that they need to have a 20% deposit in order to buy a house. If you consider a house price of say, $700,000, or $800,000; that means needing as much as $150,000 as a deposit for your home.
Yes, you read right. $150,000!
For most first time homeowners, this amount is completely unachievable.
It could take you as much as 10 years to save up this amount! And by that time, property prices would be increasing more and more and more!
And unfortunately, some people think that they can go out to the market and buy with a 10% deposit on older or existing houses, however this rarely the case. It is very hard to do this because the rules make it much easier to buy a newly constructed home.
These rules are in place as the NZ Reserve Bank is working to reduce and curb the number of low deposit home loans given, so they have reduced the ability for people to buy using a 10% deposit significantly.
So how could someone buy a house with just a 10% deposit, and not 20%?
Banks tend to request you to have a 20% deposit to buy a home. However, there are special cases where 10% deposits can be used. For example; when a property is new, the bank is more easily able to grant a home loan on a 10% deposit.
How could you buy a home with a 10% deposit?
One of the most common ways to achieve this, is to be buying a new home, e.g. a special type of home that is exempt from the Reserve Bank’s LVR speed limits. These rules restrict the purchase of older existing properties, but are more lenient for brand new properties that are newly constructed. In most cases; this means you need to be buying a home that is new.
Where the home is new, the bank will be more willing to give you a home loan at a 10% deposit. This means that rather than having a home deposit of $150,000 – you can probably make it happen with a much smaller deposit.
Just Mortgages has specialized expertise in helping purchasers with new and newly constructed properties. For more information, contact us today!
Note: Full, further and/or Other criteria applies, criteria may change, and you should also review the official information on this matter on the Reserve Bank’s website and information on what constitutes a new home.