Your mortgage questions, answered

Each week the NZ Herald and Newstalk ZB's Cooking the Books podcast tackles a different money problem. Today, it's everything you need to know about mortgages and property ownership in a rapidly changing situation. Hosted by Frances Cook.<br /><br />Owning your own home is a big part of many New Zealanders becoming financially secure - but it can be a scary prospect, especially in times like these. <br /><br />Just released research from ASB shows a lot of us are feeling nervous, with confidence in the housing market at almost the lowest levels in eight years. <br /><br />The numbers of people expecting house prices to rise has crashed since last time, from 54 per cent to just 14, and a slim majority of New Zealanders think it’s a bad time to buy a house. <br /><br />There are other complicating factors as well. Record low interest rates mean mortgages are now outrageously cheap – all the major banks are now offering deals under three per cent.<br /><br />Some first home buyers are also expressing hope that if house prices fall, they might be able to get into the market. <br /><br />There’s a lot happening here, and frankly, I’ve been getting a lot of questions into my inbox about what it all means. <br /><br />So I’ve pulled together the most common questions you’ve sent me, and we’re getting them all answered. <br /><br />For the latest Cooking the Books podcast I talked to Mortgage Lab CEO Rupert Gough.<br /><br />We discussed how to get the lowest rate on your mortgage, what this all means for first home buyers, and how investors can protect themselves. <br /><br />If you have a question you'd like answered in a future podcast, come and talk to me about it. I'm on Facebook here <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/" rel="noopener">https://www.facebook.com/FrancesCookJournalist/</a> Instagram here <a href="https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/" rel="noopener">https://www.instagram.com/francescooknz/</a> and Twitter here <a href="https://twitter.com/FrancesCook" rel="noopener">https://twit