NZ Property Market Update 2 April 26 | Rates, Economy + OCR announcements

TLDR; by Luminate

As Easter approaches, the market feels a little like the long weekend itself, quieter on the surface, but with enough shifting underneath to keep anyone watching rates from switching off completely.

Home loan rates

• ASB and Kiwibank both adjusted fixed home loan pricing this week, with two year rates continuing to hold centre stage. Across the main banks, publicly advertised two year rates are sitting around 4.89% to 5.09%, which is keeping that middle ground between certainty and flexibility very attractive.
• ASB remains sharp across short and medium terms, with six month pricing still appealing for borrowers who suspect the next twelve months may yet bring another turn in the rate cycle.

Cashbacks

Cashback remains one of the quiet battlegrounds. For borrowers with strong equity and clean applications, offers are still helping tip refinance decisions, particularly where legal fees and moving costs are part of the conversation.

Economist forecasts

• Economists are broadly expecting the Reserve Bank of New Zealand to hold the OCR at 2.25% on 8 April, with most of the focus shifting from the decision itself to what the Bank says about inflation, offshore volatility, and how patient it intends to remain.
• Wholesale funding conditions remain unsettled, which fits the wider pattern: banks are moving when offshore markets move, not waiting politely for the next OCR headline.
• ANZ Aotearoa economists this week revised their housing outlook and now expect national house prices to soften by around 2% through 2026, suggesting lower mortgage rates alone may not be enough to wake the whole market at once.
• Westpac New Zealand economists continue to point to geopolitical pressure and oil prices as the outside forces worth watching, because both feed quickly into wholesale rates and lender pricing.

Bigger picture

• The property market itself still feels disciplined rather than dramatic. Listings are healthy, buyers are engaged, but very few are arriving with urgency. Most are still negotiating hard, checking every clause, and treating finance approval like something best secured before the second coffee.
• Investor interest is returning quietly where yields make sense, especially as borrowing costs have eased enough for some numbers to look sensible again, which in property is often the closest thing to romance.
• The broader mood remains thoughtful. Buyers are active, but nobody is mistaking activity for heat just yet.