WINNER: Couple timed it just right

MAARTEN HOLL/Dominion Post

A LUCKY BREAK: Bria Hayward with her baby Johnny in their new Porirua home.

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When it comes to interest rates, timing has been everything for Bria Hayward and Justin McArthur.

After selling their last home in July near the peak of the property boom, the couple put hundreds of thousands of dollars in the bank and waited. With the Reserve Bank raising interest rates to put the brakes on the housing bubble, it was a winning strategy, netting them a rate of 8 per cent a year.

Since then, they've taken out a $195,000 floating mortgage and built themselves a four-bedroom home in the new Aotea subdivision in Porirua.

In the time it has taken for the pair and one- year-old son Johnny to get used to their new surroundings, interest rates have tumbled. Their floating rate is about 7.45 per cent and a fixed rate will be even better. "It's been great for us. I don't think we could have timed it better," Ms Hayward, 35, said.

They even had a lucky break when they tried to move to a fixed mortgage last week and a paperwork problem caused a delay. With another dive in the official cash rate today, they are poised to get an even better deal next week.

- © Fairfax NZ News