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. 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.
Lowest advertised 1 year special: 4.99%
Across the 7 main banks below, as at 24 September 2026.
Spread, lowest to highest: 0.20 points
The gap between the cheapest and dearest advertised 1 year rate.
Modelled servicing test rate: 7.99%
Our stated assumption: the lowest advertised rate plus 3.00 points. Not any lender’s actual test rate.
Carded owner occupier rates at 80% LVR or better, as published by each bank on 24 September 2026. These are advertised rates, not the rate any individual borrower is offered, and not the rate a bank tests you at.
| Bank | Product | 1 year fixed | 2 years fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANZ | Special, LVR under 80% | 4.99% | 5.49% |
| ASB | Standard | 4.99% | 5.45% |
| BNZ | Standard | 5.19% | 5.35% |
| Kiwibank | Special | 5.15% | 5.39% |
| Westpac | Special, LVR under 80% | 5.19% | 5.29% |
| SBS Bank | Special | 4.99% | 5.44% |
| Co-operative Bank | Owner Occupied | 5.19% | 5.49% |
Source: each bank’s published home loan rate page. Rates change without notice and several banks price below their carded rate on application.
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 4.99% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single buyer One income, no dependants. |
$95,000 | $570,000 | $142,500 | $712,500 | $3,056 tested at $4,178 at 7.99% |
| Couple Two incomes, no dependants. |
$140,000 | $840,000 | $210,000 | $1,050,000 | $4,504 tested at $6,158 at 7.99% |
| Couple, one dependant Two incomes, one child. |
$150,000 | $900,000 | $225,000 | $1,125,000 | $4,826 tested at $6,598 at 7.99% |
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 lowest advertised one year rate in the table above.
The servicing test. No lender publishes its test rate, so none is used here. The tested figure is modelled at the lowest advertised rate plus a stated margin, shown at the top of the page. Change the margin and the answer changes; that is the point of publishing it. Real lender test rates differ from each other and from this figure.
What is deliberately not here. No lender’s actual servicing rate, 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. |
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.
