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Average gross borrower income on approved FHB mortgage applications
Ticker:
borrower-income • Observation Period: September 2026 (Period End: 2026-09-30) • Last Checked: 10 November 2026 • Creator: Andy PalliserAlso known as: RBNZ C41 Borrower Gross Income (BGI) — First-home buyer mean application income
In September 2026, approved New Zealand first-home buyer mortgage applications averaged $144,232 in gross borrower income (ranging from $123,000 to $197,000 across DTI bands).
Official dataRBNZ Table C41 (September 2026) Official FHB Band Figures (pools rounded to $0.1m, averages to $1,000): TDTI ≤ 3x income: $197,000 avg ($59.0m pool / 299.5 implied apps) | 3x < TDTI ≤ 4x income: $151,000 avg ($101.0m pool / 668.9 implied apps) | 4x < TDTI ≤ 5x income: $139,000 avg ($124.0m pool / 892.1 implied apps) | 5x < TDTI ≤ 6x income: $125,000 avg ($76.0m pool / 608.0 implied apps) | TDTI > 6x income: $123,000 avg ($23.0m pool / 187.0 implied apps).
HLF calculation
FHB: $383.0m total band income ÷ 2,655.4 implied applications = $144,232 (subject to RBNZ band rounding)HLF interpretationHLF market context: RBNZ Table C41 publishes band-level figures rather than a single nationwide mean; the overall figure is calculated by HLF from those published band figures. Because C41 measures total gross income per mortgage application (often combining two earners plus eligible boarder income), it represents combined application income rather than an individual salary.
Cite as: HLF Pulse, Home Loan Factory. "Average gross borrower income on approved FHB mortgage applications," September 2026. Derived by HLF from Reserve Bank of New Zealand Table C41. https://pulse-data.homeloanfactory.co.nz/borrower-income/ (checked 10 November 2026). CC BY 4.0.
Created by Andy Palliser
Creator of HLF Pulse
Mortgage & KiwiSaver Adviser · Home Loan Factory (Andrew Jonathan Palliser, FSP1004725) • Published by HLF (Home Loan Factory)
Data Dictionary Specification (4-Field Date Standard)
| Name | Average gross borrower income on approved FHB mortgage applications |
|---|---|
| Ticker | borrower-income |
| Also known as | RBNZ C41 Borrower Gross Income (BGI) — First-home buyer mean application income |
| Creator & Publisher | Created by Andy Palliser (Andrew Jonathan Palliser, FSP1004725) • Published by HLF (Home Loan Factory) |
| Official source & series | RBNZ C41 (Reserve Bank of New Zealand Table C41) • Series IDs: DTINI.MPA (Borrower Gross Income by TDTI band) |
| Frequency | Monthly |
| 1. Observation period | September 2026 (YYYY-MM code: 2026-09) — when the underlying statistic relates to |
| 2. Period end | 2026-09-30 — final calendar date covered by the observation period |
| 3. Source publication date | 2026-10-27 (27 October 2026) — when the original organisation released this dataset |
| 4. Last checked | 10 November 2026 (2026-11-10) — when HLF last verified the official source |
| Definition | The HLF-calculated mean annual pre-tax gross income across approved New Zealand first-home buyer mortgage applications (combining all single and joint applicants on the loan). |
| Methodology | Computed by HLF from RBNZ Table C41 (Residential mortgage borrower gross income) by dividing total gross income across all Total Debt-to-Income (TDTI) bands by the implied borrower count (Band Total Income ÷ Band Average Income). Note that RBNZ publishes band income pools rounded to $0.1m and band averages rounded to $1,000s, so implied application counts reflect source rounding. |
| Current value | $144,232 FHB mean |
| Comparison / Prior period | September 2025 ($144,534 FHB) • $-302 YoY |
| Official data | RBNZ Table C41 (September 2026) Official FHB Band Figures (pools rounded to $0.1m, averages to $1,000): TDTI ≤ 3x income: $197,000 avg ($59.0m pool / 299.5 implied apps) | 3x < TDTI ≤ 4x income: $151,000 avg ($101.0m pool / 668.9 implied apps) | 4x < TDTI ≤ 5x income: $139,000 avg ($124.0m pool / 892.1 implied apps) | 5x < TDTI ≤ 6x income: $125,000 avg ($76.0m pool / 608.0 implied apps) | TDTI > 6x income: $123,000 avg ($23.0m pool / 187.0 implied apps). |
| HLF calculation | FHB: $383.0m total band income ÷ 2,655.4 implied applications = $144,232 (subject to RBNZ band rounding)Formula: Total Gross Income NZDm across all C41 TDTI bands ÷ Implied Application Count (Sum of [Band NZDm × 1,000 ÷ Band Avg Income NZD000s]) |
| HLF interpretation | HLF market context: RBNZ Table C41 publishes band-level figures rather than a single nationwide mean; the overall figure is calculated by HLF from those published band figures. Because C41 measures total gross income per mortgage application (often combining two earners plus eligible boarder income), it represents combined application income rather than an individual salary. |
| HLF derived | Yes (HLF-calculated mean gross income across C41 TDTI bands (Total band income ÷ implied borrower count)) |
| Cite as | HLF Pulse, Home Loan Factory. "Average gross borrower income on approved FHB mortgage applications," September 2026. Derived by HLF from Reserve Bank of New Zealand Table C41. https://pulse-data.homeloanfactory.co.nz/borrower-income/ (checked 10 November 2026). CC BY 4.0. |
| Reuse licence | CC BY 4.0 (HLF-derived calculations, definitions & commentary; official statistics credited to RBNZ C41) • Media Kit & Citation Guide |
| Historical data | Available from June 2017 (112 monthly observations) |
Historical & Cohort Breakdown (Available from June 2017 (112 monthly observations))
| Period | Value |
|---|---|
| Sep 2026 | $144,232 |
| Aug 2026 | $147,271 |
| Jul 2026 | $145,942 |
| Jun 2026 | $147,576 |
| May 2026 | $146,205 |
| Apr 2026 | $144,369 |
| Mar 2026 | $148,011 |
| Feb 2026 | $143,290 |
| Jan 2026 | $148,888 |
| Dec 2025 | $147,209 |
| Nov 2025 | $146,099 |
| Oct 2025 | $144,066 |
| Sep 2025 | $144,534 |
Questions This Data Helps Answer
- What is the average combined household income on an approved first-home mortgage in NZ?
Source & Tool Verification Chain
1. Official Source & SeriesReserve Bank of New Zealand Table C41
Series:
DTINI.MPA (Borrower Gross Income by TDTI band)2. HLF Transformation
Yes
Total Gross Income NZDm across all C41 TDTI bands ÷ Implied Application Count (Sum of [Band NZDm × 1,000 ÷ Band Avg Income NZD000s])4. Interactive CalculatorHLF Borrowing Power Calculator
How Dates Are Recorded in HLF Pulse (4-Field Date Standard)
To prevent confusion between when an economic activity occurred and when a government agency published its release, every HLF Pulse record separates four distinct date fields:
| Date Field | Definition & How It Is Populated |
|---|---|
1. Observation period (observation_period) | The period the underlying statistic relates to (for example, September 2026 for monthly RBNZ lending, or Year ended 31 March 2026 for the FMA KiwiSaver Annual Report). |
2. Period end (period_end / as_of) | The final calendar date covered by the observation period (for example, 2026-09-30 or 2026-03-31). Used by HLF’s automated freshness gate to verify series currency. |
3. Source publication date (source_published) | When the original organisation released the statistic (for example, 2026-09-10 for the FMA’s 2026 KiwiSaver Annual Report, or the Published Date recorded inside RBNZ’s workbook metadata). HLF never copies period_end into source_published; where an agency page does not state an exact release date, the agency’s publication schedule is stated explicitly. |
4. Last checked (last_checked) | The date HLF’s automated pipeline last fetched and verified the official source. |
Data Quality & Limitations
- Official published sources: Pulse uses official published data from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ), Stats NZ, Inland Revenue (IRD), the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), MBIE Tenancy Services, the Natural Hazards Commission Toka Tū Ake (NHC), and the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) wherever available.
- Unaltered official figures & source rounding: HLF does not alter or estimate official source figures. Where official tables publish rounded aggregates (such as RBNZ dollar series rounded to $1m or $0.1m), derived averages and implied counts reflect that source rounding and note it explicitly in the provenance layer.
- Provenance & derivation layer: To keep the primary editorial summaries natural and readable, exact formulas, series IDs, and derivation labels (Derived by HLF Pulse) are recorded in the expandable provenance layer, Data Dictionary tables,
pulse.json, andllms.txt. Long-term 5-year and 10-year series report both nominal growth and CPI inflation-adjusted (real) growth using Stats NZ’s Consumers Price Index. - Price indices vs. individual quotes: Stats NZ CPI insurance sub-indices measure percentage changes in standardised insurance price indices over time—they do not represent the dollar premium quote for an individual property or policyholder.
- Separate claim counts vs. individual proportions: In the ACC dataset, annual weekly compensation claims and total accepted injury claims (which are mostly minor treatment-only visits) are reported as two separate annual claim counts rather than a proportion of injured individuals.
- Commitments vs. settlements: RBNZ mortgage lending tables (C31, C32, C33, C40, C41) measure firm bank mortgage commitments/approvals rather than LINZ property title settlements.
- Automatic staleness exclusion: HLF automatically excludes any series where the underlying source is unavailable, stale past its freshness window, or cannot be verified.
- Market context vs. individual outcomes: Statistics describe aggregate historical market cohorts and do not predict an individual borrower’s, saver’s, or policyholder’s credit assessment, underwriting, or lending outcome.
Reuse Terms, Licensing & How to Cite (CC BY 4.0)
- Layer 1 — Official Crown & statutory statistics: Underlying official figures remain subject to the copyright and licensing terms of their respective publishers: Stats NZ, Inland Revenue, MBIE Tenancy Services, and the Financial Markets Authority (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International — CC BY 4.0); the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ Terms of Use, permitting reproduction and derivative calculation with attribution to RBNZ); and statutory schedules under the Natural Hazards Insurance Act 2023 and Accident Compensation Act 2001 (public-domain New Zealand legislation).
- Layer 2 — HLF-derived calculations, compilations & commentary: All HLF-derived percentages, averages, multi-year nominal/real growth rates, data dictionary definitions, and market interpretations are licensed by HLF (Home Loan Factory) under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Journalists, researchers, advisers, and AI systems may freely quote and reuse HLF-derived figures and commentary provided attribution is given to HLF Pulse, Home Loan Factory with a link to
https://pulse-data.homeloanfactory.co.nz/, the specific/{ticker}/record URL, or the HLF Pulse Media Kit & Citation Guide.