[ad_1]
fake images
ANZ says that sustainable property prices are in everyone’s interest.
ANZ says it will require a 40 percent deposit from investors in residential properties as a step to balance the housing market.
Loan-to-value restrictions that limit the amount of small deposit loans banks can make were lifted earlier this year, but will be reintroduced next year.
The Reserve Bank proposes a return to its previous level of a 30 percent deposit requirement for investors. Banks have already reintroduced it, but now ANZ is going one step further.
Effective immediately, investors will need 40 percent equity when borrowing to purchase residential property. There are no changes to the deposit requirements for other residential buyers, including first-time homeowners.
READ MORE:
* Bonus bonus days are coming to an end
* ANZ Heads To Record Mortgage Loan Month, Driven By First-Time Home Buyers
* ANZ reduces the interest rate offer to 2.79%
CEO Ben Kelleher said ANZ would recommend to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, as part of the current consultation, that loan-to-valuation ratios (LVR) be set at 60 percent for investors in residential properties, in general.
“We have been closely monitoring the impact on residential property prices of historically low interest rates, reduced LVR requirements, and existing problems with supply and demand,” Kelleher said.
“Rising property prices are putting homeownership out of reach for many New Zealanders. The current setup favors real estate investors, particularly first-time home buyers, which could prevent a generation of New Zealanders from owning a home.
“It is in everyone’s interest that residential property prices are sustainable in the long term and that home ownership is accessible to as many people as possible.
“As New Zealand’s largest housing lender, one thing we can do to help balance the residential property market is to lower the LVR on residential investor loans.”
He said ANZ had seen a record two months of loans for residential properties with 32.4% going to investors in residential properties and 18.3% going to first-time home buyers.
He said that, in the longer term, ANZ will be guided by the results of the Reserve Bank’s consultation process early next year.
