Laggard Kiwibank finally shifts its carded home loan rates down. And it's joined with cuts by many challenger banks. Kiwibank's one year rate now lower than all its Aussie rivals

Kiwibank may have been the slowest to move its home loan rate card down, but it has done so now with the lowest one year fixed rate of any of the main banks, at 5.55%.

However, this only brings a few basis points advantage to this term.

And it has not tried to match BNZ's 5.29% two year rate; Kiwibank's new two year rate is still +16 bps above that BNZ benchmark.

At the same time, Kiwibank has trimmed most of its term deposit rates for one year terms and shorter. Some of these are aggressive, but they have preserved a 5% six month offer.

Wholesale rates were basically stable last week, limiting the funding option of chasing wholesale down.

The reader-reported mortgage rates are fluid and may be less frequent now, so please record them, if you have them. We need you to record them in the comment section below, which helps us stay on top of this fast-changing corner of the home loan rates market.

And still negotiate. How flexible they may be will depend on the strength of your financials.

One useful way to make sense of the changed home loan rates is to use our full-function mortgage calculator which is below.

And if you already have a fixed term mortgage that is not up for renewal at this time, our break fee calculator may help you assess your options. Break fees will be minimal in a rising market. But they become important in a falling market, like now.

Here is the updated snapshot of the lowest advertised fixed-term mortgage rates on offer from the key retail banks at the moment. 

Fixed, below 80% LVR	6 mths	1 yr	18 mth	2 yrs	3 yrs	4 yrs	5 yrs
as at January 28 2025	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
ANZ	5.99	5.57	5.39	5.44	5.59	6.19	6.19
current reader-reported rates	5.89	5.55			5.59	5.59	5.59
	5.99	5.59	5.39	5.49	5.59	5.79	5.79
current reader-reported rates	5.89	5.49	5.37	5.29	5.59
	5.99	5.59	5.39	5.29	5.69	5.79	5.89
current reader-reported rates
	5.99 0.16	5.55 0.24		5.45 0.14	5.69	5.79	5.89
current reader-reported rates	5.99				5.65	5.75	5.85
	5.99	5.79	5.69	5.49	5.59	5.59	5.59
current reader-reported rates	5.99	5.55	5.39	5.29	5.39	5.39	5.39
Bank of China	5.95 -0.24	5.55 -0.24	5.35 -0.24	5.39 -0.10	5.49	5.49	5.49
China Construction Bank	6.24	5.79	5.59	5.59	5.59	6.40	6.40
Co-operative Bank (*=FHB only)	5.99	5.49*	5.49	5.49	5.69	5.79	5.79
Heartland Bank		5.49	5.39	5.39	5.45
ICBC	5.99	5.79	5.59	5.59	5.59	5.59	5.59
	6.09 -0.15	5.79 -0.10	5.49 -0.10	5.49	5.59 -0.10	5.79 +0.10	5.79 +0.10
	5.99 -0.20	5.59 -0.10	5.59 -0.20	5.45 -0.14	5.59	5.79 +0.10	5.89 +0.20