RBNZ stresses few borrowers stressed

The RBNZ’s analysis of the financial strength of households, businesses and banks out this morning shows home owners are not nearly as financially stressed by rising mortgage rates as painted by Opposition politicians and some headline writers. Photo: Lynn Grieveson / The Kākā

TL;DR: - The Reserve Bank has reported that those households with mortgages remain much less stressed than they were in the 2008 to 2015 period, thanks to almost half being ahead on their repayments and most still sitting on large equity gains built up over the last decade.

The political rhetoric from the Opposition paints a picture of ‘hard-working New Zealanders’ ‘drowning in debt’ and being ‘crushed by a cost of living crisis,’ but the Reserve Bank says its Financial Stability Report due to be published at 9 am¹ will show mortgage stress levels significantly lower than in the 2008-2015 period and the mortgage burden for home owners as a share of disposable income is still less than in 2008.

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Home owners aren’t actually ‘drowning in debt’