Moving House? Bridging Finance and the Best Deal on Your Next Mortgage
Upsizing, downsizing, or relocating. Moving house has enough moving parts without stressing about the finance. We help you decide whether to buy or sell first, arrange bridging finance if you need to buy before you sell, and make sure you're on the sharpest rate for your next mortgage.
Should You Buy First or Sell First?
There's no single right answer. It depends on the market, your cash position, and how much risk you're comfortable carrying.
Buying first
House-hunt from the comfort of your current home and give yourself time to find somewhere you actually want to live, instead of rushing into a purchase because you've already sold.
The risk: if your current home takes longer than expected to sell, you could carry two mortgages. You can make "subject to sale" offers, but in competitive markets those often lose out to unconditional buyers.
Selling first
Strong position. You know exactly what you have to spend, you're a cash buyer, and that gives you real negotiating power.
The downside: if settlement dates don't line up, you may need short-term accommodation and storage. A good workaround is to negotiate a longer settlement with your buyer, which can buy you weeks or months to find the next place.
The middle path
Most Kiwi movers end up here. They list their current home, find a buyer, go unconditional, and then have 4 to 12 weeks to find and settle on the next place.
Where it gets tricky: when you find the next place before yours has sold. That's where bridging finance comes in.
Settled.govt.nz confirms you can add a condition to your offer that the purchase is conditional on you securing an unconditional contract for the sale of your own home by a specified date. In a buoyant market these offers are often turned down in favour of unconditional buyers, but in slower markets they're accepted regularly. Worth asking us or your lawyer about before you write the offer.
Also worth knowing: deposits on a sale are typically 10% of the purchase price and are held in a trust account. Settled confirms the deposit is usually transferred to your lawyer's or conveyancer's trust account after 10 working days, unless early release is agreed.
Source: Settled.govt.nz, Sale and purchase agreementHow Bridging Finance Works
Most movers don't realise there are two different kinds of bridging finance in New Zealand. The difference has a big impact on whether you'll get approved and what it costs.
Bridging finance is a short-term loan that "bridges" the gap between buying your new home and selling your current one. It's not a separate product in New Zealand. It's usually a top-up on your existing home loan, secured against both properties until the old one sells. There are two types, and the difference matters.
Closed bridging
You've already sold your current home (the sale is unconditional with a confirmed settlement date) but the settlement dates on the sale and purchase don't match. You need finance to cover the gap, often 2 to 12 weeks.
Because the bank can see the money coming in from the confirmed sale, closed bridging is the easier of the two to get approved. Interest is usually charged only for the gap period.
Open bridging
You haven't sold your current home yet, but you want to buy the new one anyway. The bank has no confirmed end date for when your old mortgage gets paid off, which makes this a bigger risk for them, and a bigger risk for you.
To get approved, you'll usually need to show you can service both mortgages at the bank's test rate, not the advertised rate. Some banks won't offer it at all. Expect an interest-only arrangement during the bridging period to keep repayments manageable.
Which one applies to you?
Current home sold unconditionally, dates don't match.
Haven't sold yet, want to buy anyway.
Sold conditional on finance or LIM.
How the major NZ banks handle bridging
Most NZ banks don't publish bridging interest rates or maximum terms on their websites. They want you to call so they can assess your situation. Here's what each bank does publish.
| Bank | What They Call It | Published Pricing |
|---|---|---|
ANZ
|
Bridging (tideover) loan, interest-only | Priced at standard floating rate (floating discounts explicitly don't apply to bridging) |
ASB
|
Short-term bridging home loan or "substitution of security" | Not publicly disclosed |
BNZ
|
Bridging finance or security transfer | Not publicly disclosed |
Westpac
|
Short-term interest-only bridging loan (or Choices Home Loan increase) | Not publicly disclosed |
Kiwibank
|
Bridging loan | Standard variable rate + 1% (the only major bank to publish a pricing formula) |
TSB
|
Bridging finance, separate interest-only loan | Not publicly disclosed |
What Happens to Your Existing Mortgage When You Move?
When you sell your current home, your existing mortgage has to be repaid. You've got three options, and one of them can save you thousands.
The Costs to Budget For When Moving House
Bridging finance and your next mortgage are only part of the picture. Here's what else tends to catch movers out.
Break fee on your current fixed loan
Only applies if you break early and rates have dropped since you fixed. Ask for a calculation before you commit to anything.
Legal fees
Conveyancing on both the sale and purchase. Sorted notes fees vary between providers and recommends shopping around before you engage a lawyer.
LIM and builder's reports
A LIM flags drainage, consent and landslip issues. A builder's report flags structural and maintenance issues. Sorted's guidance is to get at least one of each before you buy.
Moving costs
Removalists, insurance during transit, temporary storage if your settlement dates don't line up.
Lender fees
Application fees, low-equity margin (if your new loan pushes you over 80% LVR), discharge fees on the old mortgage.
Settlement timing
If your sale and purchase settlements don't line up, you may need short-term accommodation, storage, or bridging finance to close the gap.
The four major banks currently advertise around $5,000 cash contributions for borrowers taking out new home loans above their minimum thresholds (typically $200,000 to $250,000), with a 3-year clawback on a pro-rata basis. Kiwibank uses a 4-year daily pro-rata clawback.
Co-operative Bank advertises 1% cashback up to $15,000, often the best per-dollar deal if you're borrowing a lot. We negotiate this for you.
Timing Your Move
Which of these scenarios you're in changes what finance you need, how much it costs, and how stressful the move is. Here's how to tell.
Sell first, buy later, short gap
You list and sell, then negotiate a longer settlement (often 90+ days) while you hunt for the next place. Lowest risk, no bridging finance needed, but requires patience.
Buy first, use closed bridging
You've sold unconditionally but the settlement dates don't match. Bank provides short-term bridging to cover the gap, typically 2 to 12 weeks. Straightforward if your sale is solid.
Buy first, use open bridging
You've found the new home before selling. Bank provides bridging but will want evidence you can service both mortgages at the test rate. Higher cost, stricter conditions, but sometimes the only way to lock in the dream home.
We help you work out which scenario suits your situation before you put pen to paper on an offer. Fifteen minutes, free.
Why Use Simpler When You're Moving?
Moving house is stressful enough. Here's what you actually get when you put the finance side in our hands.
Talk to an adviser before you make an offer. Fifteen minutes now can save thousands over the life of your next loan.
Book a Free Chat
Moving House Mortgage FAQs
The questions we hear most from Kiwis thinking about their next move.
Closed bridging is when you've already sold your current home (unconditionally) and just need to cover the gap until settlement. Open bridging is when you haven't sold yet. It's riskier for the bank and harder to qualify for because you need to show you can service two mortgages simultaneously.
Most NZ banks describe bridging as "short-term" and don't publish a fixed maximum. Closed bridging usually only needs to cover a few weeks between settlement dates. Open bridging can run longer, but lenders want it resolved as fast as possible and interest accrues the whole time. The actual maximum term is set case-by-case when you apply.
Only Kiwibank publishes a pricing formula. Its bridging loans are charged at the standard variable rate plus 1%. ANZ, ASB, BNZ, Westpac and TSB don't disclose bridging rates or max terms on their public pages, so you need to request a quote directly. This is one of the reasons comparing lenders through a tends to save money on bridging.
Yes. Most major NZ banks allow it, but each calls it something different. ASB calls it "substitution of security". Westpac calls it "taking your loan with you". BNZ calls it a "security transfer". If you're moving to a similar-priced home and love your current rate, this can save you the break fee entirely. Conditions (loan amount, LVR, timing) vary case-by-case.
Only if you break your fixed-rate loan before the term ends. If you can port the loan, there's no break. If you have to break, the fee is based on the bank's actual loss under Section 54 of the CCCFA. Minimal or zero if market rates have risen since you fixed, larger if rates have dropped.
There's no universal answer. Selling first is lower-risk and makes you a cash buyer. Buying first gives you more time to find the right home but risks carrying two mortgages. The right call depends on the market, your cash position, and how long you can hold. This is exactly what we help you work out.
If you've built up equity in your current home, that equity becomes the deposit on the next one. For owner-occupiers, most banks still prefer 20% equity to avoid a low-equity margin. Since December 2025 the Reserve Bank allows banks to write up to 25% of new owner-occupier lending at above 80% LVR, so lower-deposit moves are more achievable than they were a year ago.
Yes. We work with clients nationwide. Most of the process runs over phone, video call and email, so your location doesn't matter.
Nothing to you. We're paid by the lender when a loan settles. If anything unusually complex comes up that changes that, we tell you upfront, before any work starts.
Planning Your Next Move?
Before you put an offer on anything, have a 15-minute chat with us. We'll help you work out:
- Whether to buy or sell first in the current market
- Whether your current mortgage can be ported
- How much bridging finance you can get approved for
- What cashback and rate your next mortgage should be on
