(Updated below with a BNZ 3yr rate change.)
ASB, BankDirect and Sovereign have all announced the same lower home loan rates.
Two rates have changed lower, and one is a new 'special'.
The one year 'special' rate has been reduced by 11 basis points to 5.59%.
This matches a recent ANZ 'special' for the same term.
Both are the lowest carded one year rate available from a main 'big bank', although the HSBC 5.39% 'special' is still available, and the 5.59% rate is also available from SBS Bank.
ASB and team have also reintroduced an 18 month 'special' - it's new in that it wasn't available as a 'special' last week.
The rate for this new 'special' is now 5.70%, which is 39 bps lower than their 18 month standard rate for this term. (The last time ASB had an 18 month 'special' it was pitched at 5.69%.)
This rate also matches the ANZ rate for 18 months and is the lowest carded bank rate for this term in the market.
And the third change made today is to reduce their three year 'special' from 5.99% to 5.85%, a reduction of 14 bps. That puts it below the equivalent ANZ rate but matches BNZ's 3 year rate; however the BNZ rate is a standard rate, without 'special' conditions. SBS Bank still has the lowest three year rate at 5.69%.
ASB hasn't changed any other rate today and that means they still have the lowest four year rate in the market at 5.99% which is also a 'special'.
To qualify for ASB 'specials' there needs to be a minimum of 20% equity in the security property. You must also have your main transaction account with ASB with your salary, wages, business income or rents credited, and an ASB credit card. Existing discounts do not apply to 'special' term rates.
Update: BNZ has raised its three year mortgage rate this morning. It has ended its standard but very competitive 5.85% fixed three year rate replacing it with a 6.29% rate. At the same time it has added a new three year Classic rate of 5.99%. The result of all these moves is that BNZ's three year rate has been effectively raised by +14 bps.
At the end of trading in New York on Wednesday prior to the US Thanksgiving holiday, benchmark bond yields fell again making the falls this week quite substantial. These moves spilled over into the NZ swap markets and that has left wholesale money starting this week lower and flatter. This table gives you an idea of the recent changes in wholesale swap rates and their flattening trend:
| 4 wks ago | 2 wks ago | 1 wk ago | Today | |
| % | % | % | % | |
| 1 year | 3.72 | 3.75 | 3.75 | 3.73 |
| 2 years | 3.87 | 3.95 | 3.92 | 3.88 |
| 3 years | 3.99 | 4.06 | 4.03 | 3.96 |
| 4 years | 4.08 | 4.14 | 4.11 | 4.03 |
| 5 years | 4.16 | 4.22 | 4.19 | 4.10 |
| 7 years | 4.28 | 4.34 | 4.32 | 4.21 |
| 10 years | 4.40 | 4.47 | 4.45 | 4.33 |
All changes announced today were effective from 5pm Friday, November 28, 2014.
See all banks' carded, or advertised, home loan rates here.
The current non-rate incentive offers are here.
This is how the updated mortgage rates will compare as at 8:00 am Monday, December 1, 2014:
| below 80% LVR | 1 yr | 18 mths | 2 yrs | 3 yrs | 4 yrs | 5 yrs |
 |
5.59% | 5.70% | 5.75% | 5.99% | 6.49% | 6.59% |
 |
5.59% | 5.70% | 5.75% | 5.85% | 5.99% | 6.49% |
 |
5.69% | 6.09% | 5.75% | 5.99% | 6.49% | 6.59% |
 |
5.69% | 5.75% | 5.89% | 6.59% | 6.69% | |
 |
6.09% | 5.75% | 6.39% | 5.99% | 6.79% | 6.49% |
| Co-op Bank | 5.69% | 5.75% | 5.75% | 5.99% | 6.40% | 6.49% |
 |
5.39% | 5.75% | 5.99% | 6.49% | 6.79% | |
| SBS Bank | 5.59% | 5.74% | 5.49% | 5.69% | 6.19% | |
 |
5.70% | 5.90% | 5.70% | 5.95% | 6.40% | 6.50% |
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4 Comments
The general trend for interest rates is downwards.
NZ is still maintaining a high interest rate policy by comparison to the UK, USA, Australia, Germany, EU etc
Australia mortgages at 4.5%.
http://www.ratecity.com.au/sem/home-loans/mortgage-calculator?source=ra…
David, as you must well know, bank economists, and others, who ought to know better, have been winging and wining for at least the past three years that
"Interst rate are going to rise, they are too low"
They have been proven wrong over and over.
Based upon that then i asume, quite reasonable i believe, that
"Because of their insistant/persistant belief that interest rates would rise they have paid higher deposit rates than were justified"
In other words, the narower margins are because they refused to get their heads out of their backside and look at the real world.
Maybe this result of a brain drain that happened a few years back and we are stuck with the consequenses.
How much longer does the NZ public tolerate the predictions from banks & commentators that "interest rate rises are looming, rates are at all time lows"?
At some point, surely that technique will be seen for what it is: A yearning to return to a pre-GFC normal, not a serious evaluation of global economic forces including deflation, low household spending, hostile environments for small business, non-city decline, and QE.
interest rates are not going to rise for quite some time. They are already very high in NZ.
higher interest rates are not going to dampen down the select Auckland housing market.
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