Wefund Opening Up NZ Market for Australian Lenders

Innovative finance platform Wefund has entered the New Zealand market with a dedicated team to service that nation’s booming real estate market.

Wefund's first overseas office is in Auckland, one of the hottest property markets across the Tasman.

Like Sydney, average house prices are well over $1 million and the two cities share many similarities when it comes to real estate.

Strong price growth has triggered affordability concerns in both, while regulators in both countries have previously intervened through macroprudential tools to keep markets from overheating.

In December, 2020 the NZ government released the National Construction Pipeline report, which provided a forecast for national building and construction work across residential and commercial markets.

Despite a short-term reduction in residential building consents due to the pandemic, a return to growth is anticipated from 2024.

The report predicts that more than 73,000 dwelling units are expected to be approved in Auckland from 2020 to 2025.

From 2023, a gentle increase in residential building consents is anticipated for Wellington, the nation’s capital city. Nearly 11,000 dwelling units are expected to be approved between 2020 and 2025.

Major opportunity for Australian lenders

The launch of Wefund NZ presented a significant opportunity for Australian lenders looking to capitalise on the strength of New Zealand’s housing market, Wefund co-founder Marshall Condon said.

The platform already partners with more than 70 Australian lenders, many of which are smaller non-banks and private funders.

Condon said smaller lenders were increasingly looking to New Zealand as an attractive market.

“The New Zealand property market shares many characteristics with Australia, including demand for high-density dwellings, a strong appetite among property investors and a competitive property development industry,” he said.

“Expanding into a new market is an expensive exercise for lenders. With Wefund they can effectively have a presence in New Zealand and fund developers without needing to physically set up an office there.

“This is already proving to be an attractive proposition for some of our non-bank lending partners.”

The New Zealand team will be led by Kris Sligo, a born and bred Kiwi who held senior positions in commercial banking at ANZ and within the non-bank sector in Melbourne and Auckland prior to joining Wefund.

Sligo will manage a team of expert analysts and credit managers, dedicated to understanding the individual nuances of every project and providing feasibility analysis to maximise each development’s profitability.

“Wefund has invested heavily in its proprietary platform, which reduces turnaround times significantly compared with other more established channels,” he said.

“We aim to provide lending terms within a week of receiving full details of a development proposal.”

He said that Wefund only accredits trusted lenders who have a proven track record of delivering reliable funding.

“Developers can have confidence in Wefund’s accredited panel of lenders, who are able to provide funding of up to $250 million per project, with higher LVR thresholds,” Sligo said.

The NZ team will also include Tammy Crause, who heads up business development, sales, client relationship management and operations.

“We’re excited about bringing Wefund to the New Zealand market and providing a better experience for developers and lenders,” Crause said.

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