Unsecured borrowers still carry most of the hardship strain, Equifax finds
Demand for home loans in New Zealand is running well ahead of last year, while mortgage arrears continue to ease. That’s according to Equifax’s NZ Market Pulse report for October 2026.
Home loan enquiry volumes were up 12.2% year to date by week 41 of 2026, tracking above both 2024 and 2025. Equifax said momentum had firmed after a slower middle of the year, with enquiries edging higher into October as borrowers continued to shop around and refinance.
Enquiries aren’t yet translating into more approvals: Centrix’s October Credit Indicator found approved new mortgages were 16% lower in the September quarter than a year earlier.
Home loans remain the strongest performer
Home lending remains the strongest-performing credit category. The share of home loan accounts 30 or more days past due fell to 0.49% in September, down 8 basis points on a year earlier. Accounts 90 or more days overdue, which Equifax treats as delinquent, fell to 0.26%.
“Mortgage stress continues to sit well below other credit categories,” Equifax said in its report.
Within the mortgage book, arrears are lower outside the major lenders. The 30-day arrears rate for home loans with lenders outside Equifax’s Big 5 was 0.4%, compared with 0.5% at the Big 5. The gap was wider for 90-day arrears, at 0.14% versus 0.27%.
Hardship pressure sits with unsecured debt
The bureau data shows financial strain concentrated in unsecured lending. Credit card hardship volumes were up 33.3% year on year, and personal loan hardship volumes were up 22.2%. Mortgage hardship rose 1.5% in September but was down 3% on a year earlier.
Personal loans remain the highest-arrears category, at 3.95%, although that figure has been gradually improving.
Rate relief unlikely soon
The broader economic picture remains mixed. Unemployment rose to 5.7% in the September quarter, and the ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index slipped to 96.2 in October. Annual inflation slowed to 3.7% in the September quarter but remains above the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) 1–3% target band.
The RBNZ held the official cash rate at 2.75% on 28 October and signalled that further tightening was still likely if price pressures persist. The decision was close, with the Monetary Policy Committee splitting 4–3 and economists still tipping a December hike.
Equifax said the outlook means “meaningful interest-rate relief remains unlikely in the near term” for households.
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