Bank to invest $7 million
SBS Group (SBS) has announced that it plans to launch a new loan product for first-home buyers (FHBs) as market forces remain a hindrance to entering the property market or climbing the property ladder.
At the SBS annual general meeting this week, SBS chief executive Shaun Drylie said the bank would invest $7 million to launch the new product, FirstHome Combo, to provide discounted loan rates to FHBs in New Zealand.
Based in Southland, SBS aims to use FirstHome Combo to help it fulfil its original mandate of supporting Southlanders into homes. It also decided to launch the product in response to the hot market in the region and the rest of New Zealand, as reported by Good Returns.
Read more: SBS releases financial results
Drylie said he expects the housing market to move away from investors and towards FHBs. However, FHBs still need a further boost.
Drylie’s forecast is in line with CoreLogic’s latest data pointing to signs that FHBs have become more successful in accessing the housing market in the past few months after a struggle in the first quarter of 2021.
“As the market cools over the coming months and into 2022, we should see ‘normality’ return for sales activity and price growth, and the strains on would-be FHBs in terms of trying to save enough for their deposit to keep pace with the market aren’t as intense,” said CoreLogic NZ chief property economist Kelvin Davidson.
