New Zealand · https://decisionscalc.com/nz/tools/home-buying-cost-calculator/
Home Buying True Cost Calculator
The mortgage is just the beginning. See your complete Year 1 cost — purchase costs, property tax, insurance, and maintenance — broken down by item, percentage share, and monthly equivalent.
Year-One True Cost of Buying
Your results appear here
Full Year-One Cost Breakdown
The deposit is not the cash you need
The costs on top of the deposit are substantial and, unlike the deposit, cannot be borrowed. Transfer or stamp duty, legal fees, searches, surveys, mortgage arrangement fees and moving costs all have to be paid from savings on completion.
How much varies enormously by country — under 1% of the price in some markets and well over 5% in others, with transfer tax the main reason for the spread. Buyers who budget only for the deposit find this out late, which is when it is most expensive to discover.
The first year after you move
Two things catch new owners out. The first is furnishing an empty house, which is a larger number than expected when appliances, curtains and flooring are all needed at once.
The second is maintenance, which no longer has a landlord attached to it. A common planning figure is around 1% of the property value a year, though it does not arrive evenly — several quiet years then a boiler or a roof. Older properties run higher, and a survey is the cheapest way to find out which sort you are buying.
The survey is the cheapest money you will spend
A full structural survey costs a few hundred to around a thousand and is the only step in the process that can save five figures. A lender's valuation is not a survey — it establishes that the property is worth what is being lent against it, and nothing about its condition.
Findings are also negotiable. A survey identifying significant work frequently pays for itself several times over in a reduced price, and occasionally does something more valuable by stopping the purchase.
What lenders look at beyond the deposit
- The loan-to-value band. Rates step down at thresholds — often 90%, 85%, 80%, 75% — so a small increase in deposit that crosses a band can cut the rate meaningfully, while a larger increase that does not cross one changes little.
- Affordability, not just the deposit. Lenders stress-test against a higher rate than the one you are offered, which is what usually sets the ceiling on borrowing.
- Mortgage insurance. Where the deposit is below a threshold, an insurance premium is added, and in some countries it is substantial enough to change what you should buy.
- Committed outgoings. Car finance, loans and credit limits reduce what you can borrow, sometimes by more than their monthly cost suggests.
Compare two scenarios
Snapshot your current numbers, change any input, then snapshot again to see the difference side by side.
No scenarios saved yet — enter your numbers above, then click Save as A.
| Metric | Scenario A | Scenario B | Difference |
|---|
What changes in New Zealand
- No stamp duty or transfer tax applies when you buy a home in New Zealand; the closing line is legal fees, a building report and any lender fees.
- Under the Reserve Bank’s rules banks may make only 25% of new owner-occupier lending above 80% loan-to-value, and 20% above a debt-to-income ratio of 6. A deposit under 20% usually means a low-equity margin or fee.
- First-home buyers can usually withdraw KiwiSaver savings for a deposit after three years of membership, leaving at least $1,000 in the account.
- Council rates are set by each council and vary widely; the default is Stats NZ’s average across all households, so check your council’s rates for the property.
Data reference (New Zealand): QV House Price Index, September 2026 (national average value $892,580); RBNZ B30 new 2-year fixed rate 5.09% (September 2026); RBNZ LVR settings (14 August 2026) and DTI explainer (updated 23 December 2025); Stats NZ HES year ended June 2023 (local authority rates ≈ $2,283/yr, all households) · figures as of 2026-11 · Price, rate, deposit and lending rules read on 2026-11-03 against the named sources. Legal fees, insurance, maintenance and moving costs are example inputs for you to change, not NZ data. General information, not advice.. See our methodology for how every figure is sourced and dated.
Get an email when New Zealand rules change
Tax bands, allowances and benefit rates change every year. We email you when a rule our New Zealand calculators use changes, usually a few times a year. Confirm by email; unsubscribe in one click.
Was this page useful?
Thank you.