logo
ASB Recruiting 80 Home Ownership Specialists To Prepare For Refixing Surge

ASB Recruiting 80 Home Ownership Specialists To Prepare For Refixing Surge

Scoop05-05-2025

Press Release – ASB
With many Kiwi having locked in short-term rates when interest rates were higher, Adam Boyd, Executive General Manager of Personal Banking says ASB is already seeing a change in customer behaviour, with people starting to fix for longer terms.
ASB is on a hiring drive to recruit 80 additional home ownership specialists as it prepares for a surge in home loan applications. 80 percent of New Zealand homeowners are expected to refix their home loan within the next year, according to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. While most of the 80 full time specialists have now been recruited, there are still some roles being advertised. The specialists will work across the bank's in-house home ownership team and mortgage adviser-led business.
With many Kiwi having locked in short-term rates when interest rates were higher, Adam Boyd, Executive General Manager of Personal Banking says ASB is already seeing a change in customer behaviour, with people starting to fix for longer terms. 'As a result of falling rates, we expect 55 percent of our home loan customers will have locked in rates under 6 percent by December this year, compared to 40 percent in March 2025.'
ASB is also simplifying its refinance process so that Kiwi coming to the end of their fixed rate term at another bank can receive a decision on moving to an ASB loan quicker and more easily. For its mortgage adviser-led business, ASB has introduced a system to improve the quality of applications being submitted so they can be processed more quickly.
ASB was named Canstar's 2025 Bank of the Year – Home Loans Award winner. The award recognised that ASB delivers mortgage products that combine 'the best features with the lowest costs, plus provides great customer service at every stage of the mortgage journey'. ASB also won Canstar's Outstanding Value Awardsin four categories – Home Lender, Investment HomeLender, Fixed Home Lender, and Investment Fixed Home Lender.
'We are seeing elevated demand for our home loans. By growing our teams and enhancing our refinance process, we'll be able to turn around applications faster, both for our customers and the mortgage advisers we work with, while continuing to deliver great service,' says Boyd.
'We continue to offer competitive pricing, having dropped fixed rate mortgages six times this year. Our one-year fixed term rate is currently joint market leading, at 4.99 percent.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

PM to visit China and Europe, will meet Xi Jinping
PM to visit China and Europe, will meet Xi Jinping

1News

time17 hours ago

  • 1News

PM to visit China and Europe, will meet Xi Jinping

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will travel to the country's largest trading partner next week, before moving on to Europe. He will be joined by a delegation of senior New Zealand business leaders in China's Shanghai and Beijing from June 17 to June 20. He will meet senior officials including President Xi Jinping. The visit would focus on growing trade, which was worth over $38 billion last year, as well as also look to strengthen education and tourism links and to maximise opportunities for New Zealand businesses. Luxon said China was a "vital part of our economic story" as New Zealand's largest trading partner, source of international students and third-largest tourism market. "New Zealand is a trusted supplier of safe, high-quality food and beverage products to Chinese consumers. It is an important market, and I look forward to doing what I can to support Kiwi businesses to thrive. ADVERTISEMENT "This visit is about backing the recovery of international education and tourism and putting New Zealand front and centre as a world-class destination for travel, study, and long-term connection." The Prime Minister will meet China's top leadership, including President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, to discuss the comprehensive bilateral relationship and key regional and global issues. Their face-to-face meeting has been hailed a success by the PM as it concentrated on trade issues. (Source: 1News) "The challenging global outlook makes it vital that we are sharing perspectives and engaging China on issues that matter to New Zealand." The Prime Minister would be accompanied by the 2025 Te Matatini champions, Te Kapa Haka o Ngatī Whakaue. Europe Luxon will then travel on to Europe to undertake bilateral visits in Brussels and the Hague from June 21 to 25. ADVERTISEMENT He would be meeting meet with leaders, including from the European Union, to discuss trade, security, and the shifting geopolitical landscape. The morning's headlines in 90 seconds including Air India crash, ferry still out of action, and ignoring TikTok KiwiSaver hacks. (Source: 1News) 'We have a high-quality trade relationship with the European Union, and the Netherlands and Belgium are gateways for New Zealand's growing exports to Europe," he said. "Since the early entry into force of the New Zealand-European Union Free Trade Agreement, Kiwi goods exports have grown by over 25%, which is a more than $1 billion increase." In the Netherlands, the Prime Minister would participate in the NATO Summit and hold one-on-one talks with a number of NATO leaders. 'Prosperity is only possible with security, and our discussions will focus on connections between the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security environments,' Luxon said.

Luxon secures Xi Jinping meeting in China
Luxon secures Xi Jinping meeting in China

Otago Daily Times

time19 hours ago

  • Otago Daily Times

Luxon secures Xi Jinping meeting in China

As he faces criticism at home for weakening ties with Beijing, Prime Minister Chris Luxon has booked a meeting with China President Xi Jinping next week. The National Party leader has announced the longest international trip of his tenure, spending four days in China and five in Europe in a stretch also taking in the NATO Summit in the Netherlands. Since taking office in late 2023, Mr Luxon has also continued a shift in New Zealand's foreign outlook - begun by Jacinda Ardern's Labour government in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine - to more closely align with Australia and the United States. This has not been uncontroversial. Last week, former prime ministers Helen Clark and Geoffrey Palmer headed an open letter arguing New Zealand was" risking its sovereignty" by strategic alignment and integration with Australia, and it should not antagonise Beijing, for fear of losing a critical trade relationship. "We do believe that a military relationship with the United States directed against China has many risks for New Zealand," the letter stated. "That is especially true in a situation where the United States itself has recently become more ambivalent about its defence relationships with traditional partners. "Your forthcoming visit to Beijing is a vital opportunity to make it clear at the highest level that New Zealand retains its bipartisan commitment to its strategic partnership with China in the interests of a peaceful and prosperous region and world." Foreign Minister Winston Peters has dismissed their arguments, saying the letter was written by "various former politicians/officials who appear to be suffering from relevance deprivation syndrome". In a statement announcing his travel, Mr Luxon said time spent in Shanghai and Beijing would be focused on bilateral trade, measured at $NZ37 billion last year, calling China "a vital part of our economic story". "New Zealand is a trusted supplier of safe, high-quality food and beverage products to Chinese consumers. It is an important market, and I look forward to doing what I can to support Kiwi businesses to thrive," Mr Luxon said. A key promise of the National-led coalition has been to double the value of Kiwi exports in the next decade. Coaxing Chinese students back to New Zealand's education system is also likely to be feature in government-to-government discussions, with enrolments running at just over half their pre-pandemic peak. Accompanying Mr Luxon will be a delegation of business leaders, and a group of Maori performers. National kapa haka champions Te Kapa Haka o Ngati Whakaue will travel on the NZDF plane to China, despite the government's troubled relationship with Maoridom. On the second leg of his trip, Mr Luxon will broaden his focus to include security, meeting with EU leaders in Brussels, and then NATO nations in The Hague. "Prosperity is only possible with security, and our discussions will focus on connections between the Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security environments," he said. Like Australia, New Zealand is invited to annual NATO gatherings as part of the "Indo-Pacific Four" grouping, which also includes Japan and South Korea.

'It reverberates': Air NZ boss on Air India tragedy
'It reverberates': Air NZ boss on Air India tragedy

1News

timea day ago

  • 1News

'It reverberates': Air NZ boss on Air India tragedy

More than 240 people have been killed when an Air India plane bound for London crashed moments after taking off from the city of Ahmedabad in India on Thursday (India time), authorities said. It's the world's worst aviation disaster in a decade and the first loss of life in a Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The police say the sole survivor managed to jump out an emergency exit. Air NZ chief executive Greg Foran told Morning Report he had been in touch with Air India's Kiwi chief executive Campbell Wilson and offered his company's support. He had also contacted Singapore Airlines which has a shareholding in Air India. ADVERTISEMENT The morning's headlines in 90 seconds including Air India crash, ferry still out of action, and ignoring TikTok KiwiSaver hacks. (Source: 1News) He expressed his condolences to colleagues in India dealing with the tragedy. "It reverberates, we're all impacted, it's passengers, it's all the staff who were involved. We've been working on it in the evening and offering whatever support we can." 'Not making enough lift' - watch interview with aviation expert on TVNZ+ Foran, who has just returned from several days in New Delhi, said he was up-to-date with what was happening in how the aviation industry was being developed in India. Both its major airlines, Air India and Indigo, had major expansion plans with a lot of airports being built and planes on order. "It's a burgeoning industry and it's really well run." ADVERTISEMENT The plane that crashed was a Dreamliner-8 while Air New Zealand had the slightly bigger Dreamliner-9. Air New Zealand got its first order of Dreamliners in 2014, more in 2017 and was awaiting delivery of another eight. "We've had a great run with that particular aircraft." The current ones had Trent Rolls-Royce engines while the new ones would have General Electric Gen-X engines, similar to that on the Air India plane. It was too early to speculate on whether it was an engine issue that caused the crash, Foran said. A massive "ecosystem" would be responding to what has happened in order to try and find out what has gone wrong with various regulators and companies involved. "Until people get a bit further into the investigation you don't want to speculate but I am very comfortable that the quality of what we are flying today and will fly tomorrow is at the standard required." ADVERTISEMENT However, if the regulators came back with new directives they would be incorporated into its operation. "Air New Zealand remains a very very safe airline," Foran said. Meanwhile, the New Zealand High Commission in New Delhi said it was responding to the event and was in touch with local authorities. It said it had no reason at this time to believe that any New Zealanders were on the flight.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store