Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking The Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's what's actually changed for mortgages, and how you can take advantage of it. Hosted by Frances Cook.

Listen to "Cooking the Books: What do the mortgage changes mean for you?" on Spreaker.

For those who feel home ownership is out of reach, there's been some welcome news in the past week.

The Reserve Bank has loosened the mortgage rules, making it easier for people with a small deposit to be approved.

Of course, those with a small deposit are usually first-home buyers.

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Add to that, interest rates are staying low, Auckland and Queenstown house prices seem to be cooling down, and KiwiSaver has existed long enough for some people to have built up a good deposit amount.

It certainly seems enough to be cautiously optimistic – so is it big enough to help you get a foot on the property ladder?

I talked to Mortgage Lab CEO Rupert Gough for the latest Cooking the Books podcast.

We discussed what's changed for both home buyers and investors, the fish hooks that still exist, and what more changes might be on the horizon.

For the episode, listen to the podcast.

If you have a question about this podcast, or an idea for the next one, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here, Instagram here and Twitter here.

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