National's housing spokesperson Chris Bishop outlined a pledge to open up the First Home Loan by increasing the earnings limit to NZ$300,000 for every applicant. The program lets qualified buyers get in with a 5% deposit, while outside the scheme banks generally want about 20%. Bishop argued the current caps are too tight, pointing to today's thresholds of NZ$150,000 for a couple and NZ$95,000 for an individual buyer with no dependents. As he put it, "the reality is that plenty of young couples now earn more than that but still struggle to save for a 20 percent deposit while juggling the cost of rent, food, and childcare."
According to Bishop, from July 2025 through April 30, authorities approved over 7,700 First Home Loan applications. First-home buyers made up nearly 30% of July property purchases, the biggest monthly slice in upwards of two decades. Even so, nationwide home values in August fell to their weakest in over three years, and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand lifted interest rates for a second meeting in a row last week as it works to rein in inflation.
The center-right coalition government is having a rough run heading into the Nov. 7 ballot. With the recovery still sluggish, polls have National behind, and some voters no longer buy its assertion that it is the better steward of the economy. Framing housing affordability as a practical fix could help the party reconnect with younger buyers squeezed by higher borrowing costs.
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If the cap goes up, more would-be owners could qualify with smaller deposits, which may pull extra demand into entry-level listings. That can nudge prices at the bottom end and keep competition firm even while rates are high. For anyone saving toward a first home, the real swing factor remains borrowing costs and how quickly you can build that deposit.
