RBNZ Imposes Restrictions on Low-Deposit Home Lending
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New Zealand’s central bank will impose restrictions on low-deposit home lending from Oct. 1 to guard the financial system from a bubble that has made houses in the nation the fourth most overvalued in the world.
Loans for more than 80 percent of a property’s value must account for no more than 10 percent of a bank’s new lending, from about 30 percent now, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said in a statement. The New Zealand dollar declined after Governor Graeme Wheeler said the kiwi is “over-valued relative to what would be sustainable long-term.”