That Home Loan Hub
Welcome to That Home Loan Hub, your ultimate guide to mastering the world of home loans and property. I'm Zebunisso Alimova, here to simplify the complexities of real estate and provide you with expert insights and the latest trends.
Whether you're a first-time homebuyer, an experienced investor, or simply curious about the property market, this podcast is for you. Join me each week as we unlock the secrets to property success and help you make informed decisions. Let's dive into the world of property together!
That Home Loan Hub
Why KiwiSaver Balances Make It Easier To Buy Your First Home Now
Want the truth about timing your first home without the hype? We dig into why the current market is surprisingly kind to first-time buyers: fewer bidding wars, more time to think, and interest rates that sit closer to long-run norms than the pandemic anomaly everyone remembers. That calmer environment gives you room to negotiate, complete due diligence properly, and structure a loan that supports your cash flow rather than stretching it.
We also break down the quiet force reshaping first-home deposits: KiwiSaver. After a decade or more of steady contributions, many buyers in their early to mid-30s are arriving with balances that can cover close to 20%, cutting low-equity costs and opening up better mortgage options. We compare the compounding effects to Australia’s super system, then look at what an increase in employer contributions from 3% to 4% could mean for your future deposit and how to align your fund choice with your time horizon and risk tolerance.
Price stability is the final piece. Sharp swings fuel speculation and push new buyers to the sidelines. Flat or gently rising prices, on the other hand, reward preparation and patience. We outline how to assess affordability with a sensible rate buffer, choose property targets that have been on the market long enough to negotiate, and build a clean pre-approval so you can act decisively when the right place appears. If you’re unsure whether to buy now or prepare for a few months, we share the questions that reveal your best next step.
Ready to make a smart move in a calmer market? Follow the show, share this with a friend who’s saving a deposit, and leave a quick review to tell us what suburb you’re aiming for next.
Buy your first home in NZ Weekly Webinars
You thought it's not possible or the dream is too far away? Come to my webinar and I will show you, you are much closer to your dream, than you think you are!
Join Here - https://bit.ly/4m9SL72
Hello and welcome back to that Homlon Hap. Today I'm joined by Professor Buchanan. Hello, James.
SPEAKER_00:Hello, Mike Perrou, mortgages.
SPEAKER_01:What was that? Alright, James, what are we talking about today?
SPEAKER_00:Oh well, there's a lot of things to talk about today's Evan Esau, but I think we could start with, in my opinion, that it is great. It is a great situation conditions for first home buyers at the moment.
SPEAKER_01:Absolutely. We've covered this off with Jordan, we've covered it off with Kounch. Give me your angle.
SPEAKER_00:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:What's your perspective?
SPEAKER_00:Did they have a particular angle that it was positive or negative? But I I think it's positive because purchasers are able, or first home buyers are able to, they're not being rushed. You know, so they're not in this, they're not often in this situation where there's a multi-offer. So quite often they're the only person offering for a property and it's been on the market for three or four months. It's not they're not moving, depending on where you're on what areas you are. A lot of first home buyers have pretty decent deposits because of they've been in Kiwi Saber for a length, uh, you know, 10-15 years now. So you can see that coming through. And the low interest rates are just really incredible from an historical point of view. Everybody thinks back to COVID, right? Compared to COVID.
unknown:Okay.
SPEAKER_01:Court COVID wasn't an anomaly.
SPEAKER_00:Anomaly? Anomaly. Anomaly. Hey, I can't believe I got something right. And I think that's usually the other way around. So historically speaking, interest rates are just bang on long term, I think.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. Awesome. So you mentioned something around the KiwiSaver and how people are in a very good position with Kiwi Savers and the future of the KiwiSaver, you know.
SPEAKER_00:Yep.
SPEAKER_01:How it could benefit.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, it's really interesting because I follow a lot of news in Australia as well as New Zealand. And you can just see how the super scheme, the compulsory super scheme that they've got over there, has just transformed that whole country. It is an incredibly wealthy country, and they've got trillions of dollars in, you know, could they be going for about 20 years longer than us, I think. So they're just that much advanced. But as an as a mortgage advisor, even though ours is not compulsory and it's only 4%, I think in Australia it's 10%. You I'm beginning to see, you know, people in their early to mid-30s, they've been in Kiwi Saver 10, 15 years, and you're seeing really good balances. And, you know, that's their deposit, that's getting them in the door. That's almost a 20% deposit in most cases. And so looking ahead 10, 15 years, if we're still allowed to use our Kiwi Saver for deposits, you can see that there there's going to be quite a bit of a bit more competition from first home buyers in the market because they'll have more money. I don't know if that how if that quite makes sense, but it it should create competition in the market for house prices.
SPEAKER_01:And we don't necessarily want house prices to go up, but I was about to say, but hopefully the price is not gonna go too high, right?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I think there's a lot of things going on at the moment that I I think a lot of key participants in the market are beginning to realise that high property prices is not good for us as a country. Sort of, you know, slowly, you know, increasing property prices, that's fine. But having these ginormous fluctuations in property price, it just sort of leads to speculation. And that and that doesn't really help first home buyers or people who can't, you know, people can't get into the market that easily.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, exactly. And I think like this is what we've covered in the previous episodes that you know, right now is a perfect time to buy. The interest rates are historically low, excluding the anomaly. Yeah. With COVID. And you know, the property price is not too high. And hopefully they will just remain flat for a little bit while the economy recovers. And if you are on that edge of should I buy, should I not buy, you know, absolutely come talk to us, right? You will confidently guide them whether that's a good time for them to buy or not.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely. And everybody's gonna have a different situation, so it's definitely a good time to come and talk to us and get the ball rolling. Because I'm dealing with clients, it's just gonna take a few more months to get them sorted.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, and I would love to explore this with you at the next episode. And I think it's really important to dive into those cases and show them how the right now, the conditions right now, are the perfect for the first-time bias. Absolutely. Awesome. Well, thank you. Let's do a quick recap basically. If you've got a KiwiSaver, fantastic. Keep it growing. If you're looking to join a Kiwi Saver, if you're fresh to the country or fresh to the employment or fresh, freshly turned 18, you know, absolutely join a Kiwi Saver because next year I believe the Kiwi Saver compulsory contributions from the employer are also going up. And you know, the employer will have to do 4% versus 3% now. And fantastic news for those that are working and getting extra money into their Kiwi Savers. So um awesome, James. Thank you so much. And talk soon.
SPEAKER_00:Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:Bye. Bye.
