Retail banking data show more Kiwis ahead on their mortgage repayments

More Kiwis are ahead on their mortgage repayments, despite challenging economic conditions, according to new retail banking data.

The New Zealand Banking Association’s (NZBA) latest figures show 42.9% of home loan customers were paying more than their minimum loan repayments in the last six months of 2025, compared with 40.3% in the first half of the year.

“The fact that over 40% of people with a home loan are ahead on their repayments shows a high level of financial capability among New Zealand home owners,” NZBA chief executive Roger Beaumont said.

“Managing your money well, especially during a time of economic challenges, is a great skill to have.”

In the last six months of the year, 1.4% of home loans were behind on their loan repayments, down 0.1%.

Meanwhile, nearly 18% of home loans moved from variable to fixed interest rates, something Beaumont said was “relatively significant”.

“This may reflect a recognition that interest rates were becoming less likely to fall further as economic conditions changed,” he said.

Overall, there were 70,811 new home loans issued between July and December, up 17.5% from 60,249 in the first half of the year.

Around a quarter (24.4%) of those new loans went to first-home buyers, similar to the previous reporting period.

Beaumont said first-home buyers were widely reported as being locked out of the housing market a few years ago.

“It’s encouraging to see first-home buyers taking advantage of the current housing market and cheaper loans, compared to the post-Covid highs.”

The average home loan value for first-home buyers was $524,850, up 3.4%.

The average value of all new home loans fell 3% to $392,519.

Outside of home loans, Kiwis were also getting on top of their debt, with 68% of credit cards paid off in full without incurring any interest cost, up 0.9%.

The average monthly spend per credit card account rose from $2073 to $2287.

Beaumont said the data also show a continued shift to digital banking and the low use of ATMs.

“Nearly 80% of all bank customers are registered for online banking, including mobile banking apps, up from around 72% last time.

“Our banks have over 10 million unique customers, and they made 2.4 billion transactions in the second half of 2025. Less than 2% of those transactions were made at ATMs.”