Reference · Last checked 24 September 2026 · Maintained by Arapeta Albert, Financial Adviser (FSP433026)
Borrowing power is the lowest of three limits: your deposit, the debt to income ratio, and the bank’s servicing test. Two of those are set by public rules and one is not. This page publishes the public ones for three standard households, dates every figure, and updates monthly so the number is never last quarter’s.
Every figure below is published by the Reserve Bank or by the bank itself, or reported by the bank to interest.co.nz. Nothing here comes from a client file or a lender’s private policy.
Official Cash Rate: 2.75%
Set 2 September 2026 by the Reserve Bank.
Average advertised 1 year rate: 5.10%
The mean of the 7 advertised rates in the table below, as at 24 September 2026.
Spread, cheapest to dearest: 0.20 points
How far apart the advertised 1 year rates are.
Average servicing test rate: 6.88%
The mean of the 4 test rates shown in the table below, as the banks report them to interest.co.nz, checked 28 September 2026. Banks without a confirmed current figure are left out of the average.
Advertised rates as published by each bank on 24 September 2026. Every rate in this table assumes an owner occupier with at least a 20% deposit, that is an LVR of 80% or better. Advertised rates only: adviser and negotiated rates are not shown, because they are not public and are not the same for every borrower.
| Bank | 1 year fixed | 2 years fixed | Test rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANZ | 4.99% | 5.49% | not shown |
| ASB | 4.99% | 5.45% | not shown |
| BNZ | 5.19% | 5.35% | 7.10% |
| Kiwibank | 5.15% | 5.39% | 6.95% |
| Westpac | 5.19% | 5.29% | 6.95% |
| SBS Bank | 4.99% | 5.44% | 6.50% |
| Co-operative Bank | 5.19% | 5.49% | not shown |
Source: each bank’s published home loan rate page for the fixed rates; interest.co.nz for the test rates, as the banks report them, checked 28 September 2026. A test rate marked not shown is one we could not confirm as current from a public source. Rates change without notice, and what you are actually offered can be lower than the advertised rate.
The same three households every month, so the series means something. These are illustrative profiles, not real clients and not claimed averages. The loan column is the debt to income ceiling, which is the limit most owner occupiers hit first.
| Household | Gross income | Loan at DTI 6 | Deposit at 20% | Property | Monthly at 5.10% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single buyer One income, no dependants. |
$95,000 | $570,000 | $142,500 | $712,500 | $3,095 tested at $3,746 at 6.88% |
| Couple Two incomes, no dependants. |
$140,000 | $840,000 | $210,000 | $1,050,000 | $4,561 tested at $5,521 at 6.88% |
| Couple, one dependant Two incomes, one child. |
$150,000 | $900,000 | $225,000 | $1,125,000 | $4,887 tested at $5,915 at 6.88% |
General information only, not personalised financial advice. Your own position depends on your income, your expenses, your other debts and the individual lender’s policy.
The whole method is published so you can check it or disagree with it.
The debt to income ceiling. The Reserve Bank restricts banks to writing no more than 20% of new owner occupier lending above a DTI of 6, and no more than 20% of new investor lending above a DTI of 7. Six times gross household income is therefore the practical ceiling for most owner occupiers, and that is the loan figure in the table. See how DTI works.
The deposit. Calculated at the 80% LVR threshold, because the Reserve Bank limits banks to writing no more than 25% of new owner occupier lending above 80% LVR. Lending above that threshold exists and is common, it is simply rationed. See how LVR limits work.
The repayment. Principal and interest over 30 years at the average advertised one year rate in the table above. The average is used rather than the cheapest, so the figure is representative of the market rather than of one bank.
The servicing test. The tested figure uses the average of the test rates the banks report to interest.co.nz, shown in the rates table. A bank is left out of the average when we cannot confirm its reported figure is current, because a test rate that is out of date on the low side overstates what that bank will lend. Each bank tests at its own rate, so your figure at a particular bank will differ from this average.
What is deliberately not here. No lender’s living expense floor, credit card treatment or rental shading. Those are not public, and some are supplied to advisers in confidence. A page built on them would be more precise and less publishable. If you want your own numbers run against real lender policy, that is what an adviser is for.
Every revision is recorded here. If a figure on this page is wrong, it should be visible when it was last checked and what moved.
| Checked | What changed |
|---|---|
| 2026-09-24 | First edition. Baseline set, no prior month to compare against. |
| 2026-09-28 | Servicing test now uses the average of the test rates the banks report to interest.co.nz (6.88%), replacing the modelled average advertised rate plus 3.00 points (8.10%). ANZ, ASB and Co-operative Bank not shown: their current test rate could not be confirmed from a public source. |
This page is general information about how New Zealand lending rules work, prepared by Trebla Partners Limited (FSP728251), a licensed Financial Advice Provider. It is not personalised financial advice and no lender has reviewed or endorsed it. Lending criteria, lender policies and the rules above change regularly. Always confirm your own position before making a decision. Spotted something out of date? Tell us at contact and we will check it against the issuing authority.
