New loan option for property investors

It is called Cashflow 20 Investor Loan and is intended to help professional investors with interest-only repayments until 2042.

It is available for a maximum of 50% of the loan to value ratio (LVR). Any money borrowed above that level would incur payments against the principal.

Resimac New Zealand general manager Luke Jackson says the offer will enable professional investors to hold or build a property portfolio with greater certainty on cash flow.

“The banks seem to be starting to clamp down on interest-only loans,” he said.

“We have got investors wanting to maximise their yields....and in a world where there is so much uncertainty, such as legislative changes, this is one area where people can gain certainty.”

Jackson said he did not think the 50% limit would inhibit people from taking up the offer, because it equated with the level of gearing of most property investments anyway.

“There are not many investors that want 60% or 70%, but if they do, then we can do that,” he said.

“But we are finding that when an investment can 'wash its own face', with the rent meeting the costs, then it becomes neutrally geared at around 50%.”

The interest rates for the loan are currently 6.59% for a floating rate, with various fixed rates on offer such as 6.94% for two years.

There are no fixed rates for the full 20 years.