Car finance inquiries fall

The demand for vehicle loans continues to slide after the number of applications dropped by 16 per cent in March, when compared with the same month a year ago.

That’s according to the latest credit indicator report from Centrix, which says the figure is indicative of declining new car sales across the board and follows a 12 per cent drop in February.

The credit bureau notes overall consumer credit demand increased by three per cent year-on-year and the only other category in decline over that period was mortgages with a fall of 6.2 per cent. 

As for the proportion of vehicle loans in arrears, that dropped from six per cent in January to 5.7 per cent in February.

However, the latest figure is up from February 2023’s total of 5.4 per cent.

Centrix adds the overall number of Kiwis in arrears fell back as expected in February to 12.5 per cent of the credit active population, or 457,000 people. In January the numbers stood at 13.1 per cent and 480,000 people.