Kiwibank launched a new, free application called Home Hunter, that is set to change the way people look for and buy homes.
The industry first app, available on smartphone, tablet or desktop, allows New Zealanders to seek pre-approval for a home loan within ten minutes, and then go house hunting armed with all the information needed from a single source.
Kiwibank Home Hunter will tell users which houses match their pre-approval, it will provide registered values, comparable house sales and estimated sale prices. It will even calculate the number of sunshine hours a property gets.
“The end-to-end process of securing pre-approval could be done before you’ve finished your morning coffee,” said Kiwibank CEO, Paul Brock.
“In a competitive housing market, where many people are finding it harder than ever to fulfil the Kiwi dream of owning their own home, we hope Kiwibank Home Hunter will make it a little bit easier,” he said.
Kiwibank says the process of obtaining financing can be daunting, especially for first home buyers and that they’ve set about easing those barriers.
“The Home Hunter app puts the power back into the hands of consumers, arming them with more information going into the buying process,” Mr Brock said.
The app was designed in-house by Kiwibank employees, Peter Fletcher-Dobson and Anand Ranchard.
Kiwibank says it wants as many people as possible to download and test the app.
“We think it’s already pretty great, but when you develop an App there is no finish line, so we want to hear people’s feedback and ideas if they think we can make it even better,” said Mr Fletcher-Dobson.
“We’ve created a Facebook community for people to tell us what they think and share their stories.
“We’ll also be selecting a group of serious home hunters to document their journey as they use Home Hunter and other support from Kiwibank to navigate the real estate market over the coming months.
“We think that by sharing their experiences, the rest of us will learn a thing or two,” Mr Fletcher-Dobson said.
Kiwibank Home Hunter is available to all Kiwis with a smart phone, tablet, or desk top computer from today. More information on Home Hunter is available at
