Tightening of New Zealand home loan restrictions postponed

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) on Friday gave the country's banks an extra month to implement tighter lending restrictions aimed at cooling the overheating housing market in the biggest city of Auckland.

In May, the RBNZ announced changes to its loan-to-value ratio ( LVR) rules to focus on rental property investors in Auckland, which is home to a quarter of the country's population.

The change meant that borrowers would generally need a 30- percent deposit for a mortgage loan secured against Auckland rental property.

The new rules were scheduled to become effective from Oct. 1, but the RBNZ on Friday moved the date back a month to enable banks to adapt their systems, said an RBNZ statement.

Restrictions on loans to owner occupiers in Auckland would continue to apply, with banks allowed to make up to 10-percent of their new mortgage lending to such borrowers with LVRs exceeding 80 percent.

Restrictions outside Auckland would be eased from Nov. 1, with banks allowed to make up to 15 percent of new mortgage lending to borrowers with LVRs exceeding 80 percent, regardless of whether the borrowers were owner occupiers or residential property investors.

RBNZ deputy governor Grant Spencer would expand on the Reserve Bank's view of the property market in a speech on Aug. 24.

The RBNZ has repeatedly warned that soaring home prices in Auckland are a risk to the country's financial stability, and opposition parties have called for overseas housing investors to be banned from the market. Endi