ANZ, ASB and Westpac say they will give loans for investment properties to people with small deposits.
ANZ made the announcement last week, although it comes with the proviso that other borrowing must also be with the bank. ASB had earlier said it would look at each deal on a case-by-case basis, opening the way for 95 per cent borrowing on lifestyle blocks and apartments as well as on investment properties.
Westpac chief executive Peter Clare told the Herald on Sunday his bank allowed certain customers to borrow 95 per cent or more in some cases.
"We have stringent criteria for allowing a customer to borrow that much. We do charge a slightly higher interest rate to reflect that risk."
Many investors buy investment properties by leveraging them against the equity in their family homes. This policy change allows them to do that before they have paid off much of the mortgage on the house they live in.
Business commentator Brian Gaynor said lending practices such as these pushed first-home buyers out of the market as investors often competed for the same properties.
And he said banks would be ruthless if prices dropped.
"Everyone thinks house prices just keep going up and up but that's certainly not true. House prices can turn around and fall quite a lot."
He said buyers at the moment should be aware that they were purchasing in a relatively heated property market. "If you buy a house for $1 million and borrow $950,000 and then the value of the house increases to $1.1 million, you've tripled your money. That's why when markets go up, people do borrow. They know they can make a huge return but they take higher risks."
But, he said, if prices dropped, people who bought with low equity levels would feel the most pain. "It's like children playing musical chairs. It's fine until the music stops. I'm not saying it will stop but it's a dangerous game to play."
He said the same investor with a $1 million property would be left with a $150,000 debt if prices dropped 20 per cent and they had to sell for $800,000. "Banks who lend 95 per cent will be ruthless. They're not going to say, 'Oh you're a nice guy, just pay us back $800,000'. They'll want the full $950,000."
Mortgage broker Tina Webb said she was excited to hear ANZ was offering investors small-deposit loans. "The more you can borrow from the bank, the better for your cashflow."
She and two others bought a property 12 years ago with a 5 per cent deposit. They have built their equity to 50 per cent and the rental return has risen.
NZ Property Investors Federation president Andrew King said: "When you are so highly geared it doesn't take much of a mistake to wipe out the 5 per cent equity you do have."
But Claire Matthews, of Massey University's centre for banking studies, said banks carried most of the risk.
"Owner-occupiers are more reluctant to walk away because it's their home. For property investors, it's a business decision; generally it's easier to walk away if things go wrong."
She said demand would drive the offerings. Banks wanted to lend and the market for traditional loans was not big enough.
"To get more money out there, they're doing this."
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