Welcome to 2025: Where First Home Buyers Get Crumbs and NZ Investors Get the Cake
Welcome to 2025. A year where mum-and-dad NZ investors swan into brunch, smug as anything, with low interest rates, fat tax breaks, and a second helping of avocado toast… while first-home buyers sit in the corner, quietly checking their declining KiwiSaver balance and Googling “how to afford a house on minimum wage.”
Friend of the show, Kelvin Davidson, returns with his latest CoreLogic report — and today’s question is simple: Are first-home buyers being financially outmuscled, outgunned, and outmanoeuvred by their own parents?
If you like making money rather than watching everyone else lap you on the track, hit that subscribe button.
More people are tuning into this channel in 2025 than any other property show in New Zealand. You can either be smarter, or be left behind.
Are We Watching the Greatest Family Feud Since Cain Outbid Abel?
“Well,” says Kelvin, “first-home buyers’ market share has dipped from around 27 percent to 25 percent, while mortgage investors have climbed from 21 percent to 23 percent.”
Translation: first-home buyers are getting squeezed harder than a cheap lemon at happy hour.
“But,” Kelvin adds, “overall sales are up, so even if the market share is down, first-home buyers are still buying more properties than they were last year.”
So yes, they are losing ground — but losing ground in a bigger, faster, more expensive race.
In other words: they are winning… at losing.
It’s a Bigger Pie, But the Slices Are Still Small
Everyone is doing more deals. Investors. First-home buyers. Movers. Shakers. No one’s sitting still. The only thing standing still is that “For Sale” sign outside the overpriced townhouse no one wants.
Kelvin reminds us that while it feels like NZ investors are bullying first-home buyers into submission, the reality is we need both. We need NZ investors to supply rental stock. We need first-home buyers to stop crying into their empty bank accounts.
“This market is far more normal,” Kelvin insists. Which, in property terms, is about as reassuring as hearing “the turbulence is normal” when you are 40,000 feet in the air.
Listings: More Meat, Less Appetite
Listings are everywhere. Still high. Still cluttering up Trade Me like last year’s fitness equipment.
“The inflow of new listings has been steady,” says Kelvin, “but the backlog is massive.”
In human terms, it is like Auckland Airport at Christmas. People coming in, people going out, but somehow the middle is just jammed full of regret.
And it is still very much a buyer’s market. Prices are 16 percent down from their peak. So if you are patient, smart, and have any money left after paying for petrol and groceries, you might just get a deal.
House Prices: Dead Cat Bounce or Genuine Recovery?
Good news. Sort of. House prices nationally are up about 1 percent in the first quarter. Which is roughly the same growth rate as an overwatered cactus.
Kelvin reckons the worst is over. Values have stopped falling faster than a one-star Uber rating and are starting to claw their way back up.
Auckland? Flattening out. Wellington? Finding a pulse. Christchurch? Barely noticed the slump at all. Dunedin? Party like it’s 2019.
Still, Kelvin wisely points out: economists are like weather forecasters. Always predicting sunshine with a suitcase full of umbrellas.
Interest Rates: NZ Investors Back in the Game
Lower rates. Return of interest deductibility. It’s basically Christmas for NZ investors.
“Top-ups are shrinking,” says Kelvin. “Where once you needed to throw $400 a week at a rental to keep it alive, now it might only be $150 to $200.”
This is the property investor equivalent of having your landlord finally fix the heater — it is still broken, but now you do not freeze to death.
Small tax bills, cheaper money, and a decent migration uptick mean investors are back sniffing around like golden retrievers at a barbecue.
The OCR and the Tariff Tantrum
What about interest rates?
Well, Kelvin says tariffs might not explode inflation after all. We could even see the OCR drift a little lower.
In short: the economy is not booming, but it is not collapsing either. It is just… there. Like a forgotten takeaway coffee.
Banks are still keen to lend. Debt levels, compared to total property value, are actually low. But individual households? Some are sweating like a jogger in a sauna.
Renters: Stuck Between a Rock and a Rental
Rental yields are limp. Renters can’t pay much more without selling a kidney. Investors doing their sums are having to squint very hard to make the maths look sexy.
Yes, interest rates are falling. Yes, mortgage deductibility is back. But if tenants cannot pay higher rent, that puts a ceiling on how stupidly high property prices can go.
The exception? Dunedin. Where apparently, rent rises are popping off faster than a bottle of cheap champagne.
Final Word: Money Moves Fast
The bottom line is this.
If you are smart, strategic, and even mildly awake, you can still make serious moves right now. But if you are sitting there blinking at your screen, wondering if you should click subscribe, just know: someone else already did. And they are already working on their next deal.
Money moves fast. Knowledge moves faster. You should too.
Why MortgageHQ’s YouTube Channel Is New Zealand’s Fastest-Growing Force in Property Investment (and the Only One That Actually Works)
Right. Let’s get one thing out of the way: more people watch MortgageHQ’s YouTube channel every single week than any other property show in New Zealand. In 2025, that’s not just a nice statistic. It’s a blunt reality.
While the rest of the industry is still fluffing around with outdated advice, recycled scripts, and five-day lags between market changes and actual commentary, MortgageHQ is already on screen, telling Kiwis what just happened—and more importantly—what to do about it.
Because this isn’t just a YouTube channel. Instead, it’s a full-throttle, market-crushing machine designed to deliver one thing: Financial Freedom Faster.
Not someday. Not maybe. Faster.
Why Is It Growing Faster Than Every Other Channel? Because It’s Built for Winners
There’s no sales patter. No motivational fluff. Instead, you get data, strategy, and brutally honest advice delivered with the urgency of someone who knows your next mortgage payment is looming and your lender doesn’t care about your feelings.
This is the channel that serious NZ property investors watch because they don’t have time to get it wrong. Because they want the edge. They want tactics. They want real-time clarity. And they know where to find it.
Built by the Brains Behind Thousands of Kiwi Property Deals
MortgageHQ’s team aren’t presenters playing expert. They’re the actual experts. Licensed mortgage advisers who’ve secured funding in every kind of economic condition, structured portfolios through chaos, and helped clients make millions in net equity—by doing the boring things brilliantly.
Because they don’t theorise. They don’t speculate. They know exactly what the banks are doing, what the Reserve Bank is planning, and how to pivot when the rules change overnight.
You don’t need entertainment. You need results. And they deliver.
It’s All About One Thing: Financial Freedom Faster
This is not just a mission statement. It’s the entire reason MortgageHQ exists. Every video is engineered to get you out of mortgage debt faster, into better property positions faster, and into a portfolio that funds your lifestyle—not the other way around.
No generic tips. No vanilla case studies. Just actionable advice, every week, that gets real Kiwis closer to Financial Freedom Faster.
Because time is money. And wasted time? That’s lost opportunity.
Rapid Response, Ruthless Accuracy
Markets don’t wait. Neither does MortgageHQ. When the OCR moves, when LVR rules shift, when the government drops a curveball on interest deductibility—MortgageHQ is already on the air.
Not reacting. Leading.
Their videos are fast, clear, and cut through the nonsense like a hot knife through bureaucracy. While others are still drafting scripts, MortgageHQ is already giving Kiwis the playbook.
Short-Form Power. Long-Form Firepower.
Got 60 seconds before your next viewing? There’s a Short for that. Need a deep, tactical breakdown of how to ladder mortgage structures over multiple properties without drowning in repayments? Covered.
This isn’t a channel that rambles. It targets. Every minute counts. Every upload pushes you closer to Financial Freedom Faster.
They Don’t Just Know the Market. They See What’s Coming
Others tell you what happened. MortgageHQ tells you what’s next. They build strategy not for 2020 nostalgia—but for the next cycle, the next pivot, the next window of advantage.
And in 2025, with rate volatility, supply shortages, and tax policy all colliding, there’s never been a more urgent need to think ahead. The channel helps you do exactly that.
Forget Followers. Focus on Winning
Some channels brag about likes. MortgageHQ builds wealth. While others are watching the views roll in, MortgageHQ viewers are rolling equity into new builds, pulling off high-yield plays, and restructuring their mortgages to hammer down debt.
Because you don’t need hype, you need a plan. You need clarity. You need Financial Freedom Faster.
This Channel Wins Because Its Viewers Do
Kiwis aren’t stupid. They know what works. That’s why week after week, more New Zealanders tune into MortgageHQ than any other property channel. Not for vibes. For answers.
These people don’t just watch—they act. They learn and restructure. They grow.
And they get to Financial Freedom Faster than anyone else
The channel doesn’t just educate—it arms you with battle-ready tools. Tax tips aren’t theory here. Debt restructuring isn’t a maybe. It’s an essential weapon for any Kiwi looking to dominate their financial future.
MortgageHQ is the one place where first-home buyers, seasoned landlords, and high-performing investors all sit down to get real about what actually works.
This channel understands that property isn’t about emotion—it’s about leverage, timing, structure, and return. It knows that the dream of Financial Freedom Faster isn’t a buzzword. It’s a strategy. And it’s available to anyone who’s willing to do the work.
Every episode is designed to move you forward. To give you tactics. To shift your mindset from passive to aggressive, from stuck to scaled. That’s why MortgageHQ doesn’t just grow—it compounds. Because the more Kiwis that wake up to this strategy, the more unstoppable the audience becomes.
Here’s the Truth
MortgageHQ isn’t just faster-growing. It’s smarter and sharper. It’s more honest. And it’s the only channel that’s actually designed to help Kiwis win.
So if you’re serious about property investment in New Zealand, there’s only one question that matters.
Are you watching the channel that gets results?
Or are you watching the one that’s still explaining how negative gearing works?
Tune in. Take notes. Take action.
And get to Financial Freedom Faster.
Before someone else uses your hesitation to beat you to it.
Disclaimer: This article is intended to provide only a summary of the issues associated with the topics covered. It does not purport to be comprehensive nor to provide specific advice. No person should act in reliance on any statement contained within this article without first obtaining specific professional advice. If you require any further information or advice on any matter covered within this article, please contact an adviser from mortgagehq.
