Mortgage payments missed, consumer lending up 19%

Mortgage payments missed, consumer lending up 19%
Queenstown homeowners are the second most indebted after Aucklanders. (Image: Depositphotos))
Brent Melville
The number of New Zealanders missing their mortgage payments continued to track up during February with 18,900 accounts now registered as past due. Data from credit bureau Centrix shows that 2.04% of all home loan holders are now behind on their monthly payments. That's up 23% on a year prior and reflects seven straight months of climbing mortgage arrears – on the back of hikes in the official cash rate, now at a 14-year high of 4.75% and expected to go to 5% this week.At the same time, new mortgage borrowing fell 42% in February...

More Finance

Lending rules further eased
Finance

Lending rules further eased

The Government is continuing to pick away at consumer protections, criticised for making it unnecessarily difficult to borrow money.Cabinet has agreed to further change the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA) so lenders don’t find themselves in too much hot water if...

Staff reporters 05 Sep 2024
FMA cancels firm's licence that didn't live up to its name 'Integrity'
Finance

FMA cancels firm's licence that didn't live up to its name 'Integrity'

The Financial Markets Authority is cancelling the licence of a financial advice provider for serious misconduct, including misleading customers and charging excessive cancellation fees.The licence was held by Christchurch-based Integrity Advisers Insurance Limited (Integrity), wh...

Staff reporters 04 Sep 2024
NZME’s Mackrell wins CFO of the year
Finance

NZME’s Mackrell wins CFO of the year

NZME’s David Mackrell won New Zealand Chief Financial Officer of the Year at the NZ CFO Awards ceremony in Auckland on Tuesday night.The executive of the NZ Exchange-listed (NZX) firm took home the top prize, while former auditor general Lyn Provost won the Outstanding Contributi...

Staff reporters 04 Sep 2024
New bank contender champions niche over scale
Finance

New bank contender champions niche over scale

Debut has applied for a bank licence, intending to become a fully digital bank.

Ben Moore 04 Sep 2024