What Kiwis Pay
Banks advertise one mortgage rate. New borrowers, on average, pay another. The Reserve Bank publishes both each month; this page puts them side by side and keeps a running chart of the gap.
July 2026, one-year fixed
0.69 points below
the advertised standard rate, and 0.09 points below the special.
In July 2026, new borrowers fixing for 1 year paid an average 4.65%, 0.69 points below the advertised standard rate and 0.09 points below the advertised special. The 1 year gap to the standard rate is about the same as a year earlier (0.69 points in July 2025).
| Term | Advertised standard | Advertised special | Actually paid | Below standard | Below special |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Floating | 6.32% | — | 5.75% | 0.57 | — |
| 6 months | 5.25% | 4.60% | 4.64% | 0.61 | -0.04 |
| 1 year | 5.34% | 4.74% | 4.65% | 0.69 | 0.09 |
| 18 months | 5.47% | 5.01% | 4.85% | 0.62 | 0.16 |
| 2 years | 5.73% | 5.15% | 4.98% | 0.75 | 0.17 |
Percentages are per year. "Below" is in percentage points; a negative number means borrowers paid more than the advertised rate. The advertised floating rate has no special.
The gap, month by month
How far below the advertised standard rate new borrowers paid, for each fixed term, since the Reserve Bank began publishing what people actually pay.
The three one-year rates
The advertised standard rate, the advertised special rate and the rate actually paid, for the most common term. The special needs at least 20% equity; the paid line sits near it because most new borrowers qualify.
The gap to the special rate
The same chart against the special. When this line goes below zero, the average new borrower paid more than the advertised special that month.
What the numbers mean
Advertised standard is the rate a bank prints for anyone. Advertised special is the lower rate it prints for borrowers with at least 20% equity. Both are the Reserve Bank's average across the banks at the end of each month.
Actually paid is different in kind: it is the average rate on every new mortgage the banks wrote during the month, weighted by loan size, as the banks report it to the Reserve Bank. It includes people who negotiated below the special, people who did not qualify for it, and every deal in between.
The gap between them is the number this page exists for. It is the difference, on average, between what was on the sign and what people signed. It says nothing about any one bank, and it is not a rate you can ask for; what you can get depends on your equity, your income and who is asking on your behalf.
Timing matters a little: the advertised rates are as at month end, the paid rate covers the whole month, so in a month when rates move quickly the gap picks up some of the move. The actually-paid series currently covers floating and fixed terms up to two years.
Sussed does not compare or recommend mortgage products. This page is a market average from public figures, published so the gap is easy to see.
Use these numbers
Everything on this page is licensed CC BY 4.0. Quote it, chart it, republish it, with a link to Sussed as the source. The page updates itself the day after the Reserve Bank publishes a new month.
- Download the CSV: every month, every term, all three rates and both gaps.
- JSON for anything you are building.
- The gap chart, the gap to the special and the three-rate chart as images.
Cite as: Sussed, What Kiwis Pay, https://sussed.co.nz/data/what-kiwis-pay, from Reserve Bank of New Zealand tables B20, B21 and B30.
Embed the gap chart. Paste this where you want it; the image updates with the page.
<a href="https://sussed.co.nz/data/what-kiwis-pay"><img src="https://sussed.co.nz/data/what-kiwis-pay/gap.svg" alt="How far below the advertised rate New Zealand borrowers paid, by month. Source: Sussed, from Reserve Bank data." width="960" height="440"></a>Sources
- Reserve Bank of New Zealand: advertised standard rates (HB20), published 7 Sep 2026.
- Reserve Bank of New Zealand: advertised special rates (HB21), published 7 Sep 2026.
- Reserve Bank of New Zealand: rates actually paid on new mortgages (HB30), published 4 Sep 2026.
Reserve Bank figures are reproduced under its copyright terms, which allow copying, distribution and adaptation with attribution. Last checked 17 Sep 2026, 2:12 pm.
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