Every bank loudly promotes its mortgage offers, but does lower interest always mean the cheapest deal? Right now, we estimate there are over 200 home loan options available. The team at MoneyHub has handpicked what we consider the best mortgage deals available right now. Our list of home loan offers applies to first-time and existing homeowners looking to refinance or buy a new home. 

We compare home loans from lenders all over New Zealand to help you find the best mortgage rates. We believe that the best mortgage offers will be the lowest priced, with low (or zero) fees and provided by a trusted lender.

Our guide covers:

• Best One-Year Fixed Home Loans
• Best Two-Year Fixed Home Loans
• Best 10 Five-Year Fixed Home Loans
• 8 Must-Know Home Loan Facts
• ​Home Loan Facts, Tools, Guides and Tips
• ​Home Loan FAQs

Know this first: Buying a home is most likely going to be the most expensive financial decision you will ever make.
Our helpful guides, calculators and resources are here for you to avoid ever paying more than you should.

When you're looking to buy a home, there are two important questions to ask yourself:

1. How much can I borrow?
2. How much is my mortgage going to cost every month?

Our loan affordability calculator and repayment mortgage calculator answer both of these questions in seconds. Also, if you are on an existing interest rate and want to switch to a better deal, our fixed or floating interest rate calculator helpfully tells you how much you could save every month, and how much sooner you could pay off your mortgage.

Disclaimer: Our team of experts have chosen those home loans they believe to be the best deals for two-year home loan terms. A selection of those, for which we have published links directly to the lenders, are shown above.

Buying a home is a big step, and paying for it is not a decision you make every day. To help explain the important pieces, we've presented some popular tips and tools below.

A mortgage is most likely to be your largest financial commitment, and you’ll like have to make repayments for 10-25 years. Every dollar you can save makes a huge difference. And while the best deal will often be a home loan with the lowest interest rate, other features can go a long way to reduce the overall cost. We’ve outlined these below:

1. Free extra repayments: If you can make overpayments without being charged a fee, you can lower your balance quicker and save significantly on interest costs. If you feel as if you will be in a position to make extra repayments, then it’s a good idea to look for mortgage deals which offer it as standard. By applying spare cash to pay a little off your loan, you’re lowering your loan amount quicker, and therefore saving on interest costs. As an example, most variable interest rate home loans offer free extra repayments. 

2. Offset mortgage account: Increasingly popular with more and more homeowners, an offset account is a great way to save on interest costs. It works by ‘offsetting’ money you have in your bank account against your mortgage balance. For example, if you have $5,000 in your bank account and a mortgage balance of $500,000, you’ll pay interest on $495,000 only. Essentially, every dollar in your bank account is offset against your mortgage amount, meaning you will pay less interest.

3. Split interest rate: If you’re unsure about what interest rates will do in the future and don’t want to commit yourself to a specific rate, you can have half of your loan tied to a fixed rate, and the other half tied to a variable rate. While this may be more expensive overall than a cheap fixed offer, you have the flexibility to overpay on the variable portion of the mortgage and avoid the overpaying for your mortgage.

4. Redraw facility option: If you’ve been paying more than your minimum repayments on your mortgage, a redraw facility means you have some extra money available on your loan that you could ‘redraw’, and use for whatever you like. The terms and fees vary per lender, but if you believe this could be something you would use, it’s worth considering. 

​Expert Tip – Variable mortgages come usually have a higher interest rate than fixed-rate terms, but generally offer greater flexibility and features and often have lower fees. Fixed-rate deals, by comparison, have stricter terms and conditions, and, generally, more fees. 

Beyond the interest rate cost, several fees are chargeable with any home loan. Some of these are paid upfront, whereas others can be added to your mortgage and paid off in the long-term. The fees include:

1. Establishment fee: This is an upfront fee that you pay to draw down the mortgage and usually ranges between $0 to around $400 or $500.
2. Service fee: This is relatively rare and usually associated with car finance or personal loans, but it can exist in mortgages. A service fee is a monthly charge that covers the cost of maintaining your mortgage.
3. Legal, valuation, builder reports and settlement fees: Before you make an offer, you may want to engage a building inspector and valuer to make sure the property doesn’t have inherent problems and so that you know what it’s worth. Legal costs, such as conveyancing, come once you’ve made an offer, as does settlement legal work. A budget of around $2,500 should take care of these costs if you’re buying a standard home.
4. Discharge fee: Some mortgages charge you a small fee once your mortgage is paid off in full.
5. Early Repayment fee: If you pay off your mortgage before the agreed ending date, you may pay a set fee to compensate the lender for lost interest revenue. 
6. Feature fees: If you agree to specific features, such as extra repayments, redraw facilities or an offset account, you may pay an ongoing fee for these services.

​A mortgage is a type of loan used to buy a house. A bank lends you a fixed amount of money for a certain period of time, which you repay every month. The amount of mortgage you need will depend on how much the house is and how much money you can put towards a deposit. For example, if you have a $100,000 deposit and the house you want is $500,000, you will apply for a $400,000 mortgage. 

Banks look at home loan ‘affordability’, which means the amount you can borrow will depend on your annual income, current savings as well as your existing ongoing financial commitments.
 
Our how much can I borrow? calculator helps you understand the size of a mortgage you may be eligible to borrow based on what you can afford to repay every month. You can also get an estimate of the ongoing mortgage costs using our mortgage calculator. Your credit history is also very important, as is your expected mortgage term. 

Mortgage interest rates are the cost of borrowing your home loan. The lender, i.e. bank, determines the percentage you pay. Mortgage interest rates can be fixed (meaning they remain the same for the term of the loan) or floating (which means they move with the NZ Reserve Bank and general mortgage market conditions).
 
Our fixed or floating calculator and guide explains these two different type of mortgage interest rates. 

Most home loans are portable. This means you are allowed to transfer the mortgage from your existing property to a new property should you move home. Fees are involved, as the lender will need to value the property, and there will be legal work done as well. If your new home costs more than your existing home, you may need to borrow more from the bank. Some banks may charge for the costs they incur to organise the mortgage transfer.

LVR means the Loan to Value ratio, which is the amount of your loan compared to the value of your property. LVR is always a percentage, and calculated by dividing the amount of the loan by the value of the property. For example, if the property is worth $500,000 and you have a deposit of $100,000, the LVR will be 80%. ($500,000-$100,000)÷$500,000 = 80%. The higher the LVR, the riskier the loan is to a lender, and generally, the higher the interest rate. Conversely, if you have a home loan with a 20% or 30% LVR mortgage, you are relatively safer and will generally be offered a lower interest rate.

​An owner-occupier home loan is a loan for a property that the owner will live in. This means that you can’t use your property as a rental and live somewhere else. Owner-occupier mortgages tend to be the lowest risk to a lender and have the lowest interest rates compared to buy-to-let mortgages. 

1. A mortgage broker may be able to help; our guide explains everything you need to know about their services. Mortgage brokers don’t charge for their services directly and are only paid if you go ahead. Their experience is unrivalled, and they will happily answer your questions about all things concerning the process of owning a home. 

2. If you want to know more about looking for a home, check out our first home buyer guide, which outlines useful step-by-step tips. 

3. Or, if you’re trying to sort out your budget, our ​mortgage calculator​ can help. We’ve also published any other calculators, including:

• How much can I borrow calculator
• Fixed vs Floating calculator
• Loan amortisation calculator

4. If you’re refinancing, check out our mortgage refinance calculator and see how much you can save by switching to the best mortgage deal. 

5. If you’re looking for an interest-only deal, there are more risks involved. Check out our interest-only mortgage calculator and guide. 

And, if you’re ready to jump right in, our home loan comparison table above is the perfect place to start your search.