Anyone applying for a home loan now could face an extra wait for an answer.

Mortgage advisers say a busier-than-usual period for applications, coupled with the impending Christmas break, could mean a wait for some borrowers.

Glen McLeod, head of Link Advisory, said turnaround times were longer than usual.

“Some lenders paused pre-approvals in early December to focus on processing live deals. Recent cashback offers created a surge in refinancing activity, adding extra pressure on lender systems.

“If you apply now, approvals are likely to be scheduled for early 2026.”

ASB said it had received a significant increase in home loan applications over recent weeks.

“The time to approve a loan will depend on a variety of factors, including the completeness of information provided.

“Our triaging process and recruitment drive for an additional 80 home loan specialists earlier this year is helping us deliver for customers and prospective home-buyers during this busy period, across both our adviser and in-house channels.”

ANZ New Zealand general manager for home owners Emily Mendes Riberio said it had encouraged staff to take leave where possible.

“Shortened working weeks, because of public holidays, can mean the loan approval process takes longer.

“This year we’ve seen strong demand for home loans at ANZ over December, and our teams are working through these applications as quickly as possible.

“ANZ’s lending team continues to process lending applications over the holiday season, but we would encourage customers to get in touch and make lending applications as early as possible.”

Westpac said it was seeing high demand for lending, too.

“To help manage this we have more bankers than usual working over the holiday period. We’ve also rolled out tech improvements over the past few months to help us process applications faster.

“We’re currently processing applications through our own channels within two business days. The turnaround time for new customers through mortgage adviser channels is 10-12 days, however we are prioritising applications that require a decision before Christmas, and with extra staff on board we are working to clear the backlog over the holiday period.”

BNZ said it had a lot of staff working through the festive period and eligible applications could be processed within 24 hours.

But Jenna Broadhurst, BNZ general manager of home lending and private banking, said that might not be the only hurdle for home-buyers.

“You need to be mindful that a lot of solicitors are closed during the short weeks, while you can obtain a lending approval or pre-approval, it is unlikely that the due diligence process will be able to be completed if your solicitor is not working during the break.

“It’s also important to be aware that offices and services provided by Toitū Te Whenua Land Information New Zealand [Linz] will have reduced availability or full closures during the 2025/2026 summer holiday period and it would pay to check the Linz website for those details.”

Mortgage adviser Jeremy Andrews, of Key Mortgages, said this year had been “exceptional” for banks because they had been offering cashbacks for purchases and refinances with good equity.

That has driven high levels of switching during the year as well as normal application business.

“Whether you’d get an answer back before mid-January depends largely on which bank you’re with, and if you’re only planning on going to that bank directly or else via a mortgage adviser or different bank.”

He said ANZ, for example, was not offering pre-approvals at present.

“This gives an indication of how stretched bank staff and capacities now are.

“Solicitors typically take close to three weeks’ holidays, which is the biggest impact on trying to finalise property purchases over Christmas, because typically both the vendor and purchaser’s lawyers would need to be available. This year I haven’t found a single solicitor starting back at work prior to January 12.

“A lot of other related industries like real estate agents, property inspectors, valuers, etc take similar breaks or have skeleton staff and reduced hours too.”

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