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BNZ lowers variable mortgage rates again
BNZ has announced a further lowering of their variable mortgage rates. Their standard rate has been reduced by 0.31% to 5.99% and their Total Money rate is down by 0.26% to 5.59%
These reductions follow those announced on August 12, 2009 of about 0.15%
Today's changes are effective immediately for new borrowers, but don't come into effect for existing customers until October 2, 2009 (although curiously, existing customers do benefit immediately if they have one of their revolving credit products - Rapid Repay, or Mortgage One).
BNZ now have the market's lowest variable rate at 5.59%. They have trumped Westpac's Choices rate of 5.69% which was lowered earlier this week.
According to spokesperson Chris Bayliss, BNZ has reduced its variable rate by 4.90% over the past year.
A full listing of all mortgage rates on offer in New Zealand can be found here >>>
BNZ did not change its fixed rates at this time.
Main bank variable rates are currently in an 0.86% range as follows:
BNZ - Total Money .......... 5.59%
Westpac - Choices .......... 5.69%
Kiwibank - Standard ........ 5.79%
HSBC - Premier ............... 6.30%
SBS - Standard .............. 6.30%
TSB Bank - Standard ....... 6.39%
ANZ - Standard .............. 6.45%
National Bank - Standard .. 6.45%
1 Comments
Would BNZ care to explain
Would BNZ care to explain why there is a lag for existing customers???
A. Ha, nope!
A. Ha, nope!
Money is just like any
Money is just like any other commodity. If it's not 'selling' then lower the price.
More like 'now theres demand
More like 'now theres demand lets get compeditive' Re-financing at present and those rates are not the lowest on offer if they want your business
RE lag, apparently the same on the way back up too
Harriet. <blockquote> Money is just
Harriet.
I think you have hit the nail on the head.
speaking of BNZ here is
speaking of BNZ here is Tony Alexander on CGT (he's clearly not a fan of it, and I have to agree with some of his points about it being potentially counter productive):
An editorial in a newspaper this week noted that were the government to introduce a capital gains tax on
residential investment property it might be able to eliminate the "...biggest structural flaw in the economy."
Putting aside the issue that there is actually a far greater structural flaw "“ the sheer unwillingness of Kiwis to
save "“ consider for a moment what the impact of a CGT might be.
The criticism of a CGT absence is that it encourages over-investment in housing hence fuelling inflation etc.
etc. The inflation link comes about because we bid up the prices of each others' houses just as farmers bid
up the prices of each others' land. As we feel wealthier we take on more debt and buy more consumer
goods.
Now "“ two things to consider. First, if we invest less in houses because of a CGT, will this lead to the widely
presumed movement of billions of dollars into productive business investments? Definitely not. Why?
Because most of the money which gets "invested" in housing is borrowed from foreigners and not part of a
big pool of funds we have here in New Zealand ready to go into some investment. If we don't buy each
other's houses we will not shift our $350,000 instead into a business. Maybe a 10% deposit of $35,000 will
become available but that's about it.
Second, consider what happens when there is speculative over-investment in something. Suppliers provide
more of it and one ends up with excess supply at market prices once one takes away the speculative
fervour. Think for instance in terms of angora bunnies. But there is no evidence that the tax attractiveness of
housing has led to massive excess construction except in the apartment markets of Auckland and
(temporarily) Queenstown. The supply of new houses is constrained by the regulatory environment.
And so we get to a point we have made here before and which ultimately rules out introduction of a CGT in
New Zealand. We have a housing shortage which is getting worse because of the four decade low level of
new house construction at a time of above average net migration inflows. Regulatory restraints have been
enough to restrict a large construction response to rising house prices, but there are clearly housing
developments which get marketed as provided tax free gains to investors. If a CGT was introduced these
sometimes large scale developments would presumably not occur or be far smaller in magnitude.
The result therefore would be a further restriction in housing availability. This would tend to place upward
pressure on house prices over the long term and suggest that if introduction of a CGT was followed by a
period of price decreases that period would provide a good environment to increase one's property
exposure.
Oh, and here are two other points to consider. First, the presence of CGT in other countries has not stopped
their housing markets experiencing periods of speculative price gains. One would expect therefore a CGT
here to fail to prevent such periods of strong price rises also.
BNZ WEEKLY OVERVIEW
Page 8
Second, in a way over the next few years we are going to see the equivalent of a CGT-induced restriction of
new housing construction anyway. This will arise because of the low availability of funds from finance
companies to allow a lot of the sort of subdivision development which occurred in the past.
In other words "“ one may as well introduce a CGT now and bank the short term suppression of the house
price cycle in order to help extend the current period of low short term interest rates and perhaps have a
small downward currency impact as well. And what are the chances of CGT in the near future? Zero
https://www.bnz.co.nz/binaries/w170909.pdf
Interesting that tonight Campbell TV3
Interesting that tonight Campbell TV3 was indicating concideration of a Grand Coalition of Nat. + Labour on something akin to CGT. But here's TA's out in that last piece "...the near future.." Somethings in the wind....
KIwibank will be first to
KIwibank will be first to lower under 5% !?
I wonder if it will
I wonder if it will have GE Money written in the fine print somewhere...?
Nah BNZ will lead the
Nah BNZ will lead the way with 4.99% to capture the lions share of the business
That Campbell Live item was
That Campbell Live item was rubbish:
http://www.3news.co.nz/Interview-with-Leonard-Burman-proponent-of-capita...
Will never happen.
That guy says himself that many OECD countries have a CGT yet all those countries had a property boom regardless. God this is a pointless topic!
Gosh i wonder what rate
Gosh i wonder what rate they will give you if they ask nicely what hedging they have - before you go elsewhere... i reckon there would be another 10 to 15 basis points under what all of them are offering if it was a business retention scenario...
We have an appalling track
We have an appalling track record in alternative investments , in NZ . The stockmarket , insurance companies , finance companies , ... there is a long list of reasons as to why property is the chosen investment of the populance . And CGT will do absolutely nothing to change that . But it will gladden accountants and tax planners , another swathe of innocent folk will be coralled into their " care "........ahem !
Michael Cullen brought a million Kiwis , through the daft Kiwisaver scheme , into the arms of the money management industry . Their track record is an absolute disgrace . Surely Bill English is smarter than that , and won't , through a CGT , lead us into the clutches of the tax-minimisation industry
Pointless headline gaining BS. The
Pointless headline gaining BS. The fun begins when the bubble explodes into fragments of debt and misery across the country. The banks will be screaming when the loans turn bad, the ratings agencies report the truth and the whole pile of shite collapses. Only fools believe bubbles go on forever.
whoops everyone i said hedging...
whoops everyone i said hedging... i meant shading.... best get the banking terms correst if we are going to sound informed asking for a discount... and remember folks, if you don't ask you don't get, and worst case scenario is they aren't exactly going to put you in jail are they (presuming you know how to ask nicely - i.e. no motorcycle helmet on and no gun in hand)
Who is Bill English?
Who is Bill English?
@POP, are you saying you
@POP, are you saying you have neg a discount with a bank on a floating rate?!?! I'm sure you don't mean that?
Lara, I'm afraid that the
Lara, I'm afraid that the point is not necessarily whether other countries with CGT had a property boom or not. That's a red herring.
The point is that during those booms all profits on investment property sales were taxed, just like any other investment income. This meant that those governments and therefore the general populace of those countries benefitted from another revenue stream. Individuals who sold investment property at a profit simply didn't make as much money out of it individually as they would have done if it was tax-free. Trust me, that is very much viewed as the normal way of life in these countries - being originally from the UK I'm speaking from experience. They also pay stamp duty (another tax) when PURCHASING a property!
CGT is not a silver bullet to prevent property booms. It is however one measure that encourages a more balanced investment portfolio. It would help the Government pay for hospitals and infrastructure, rather than having to borrow quite so much. As the government look for ways to start paying down their debt, alternative revenue streams like CGT are going to look very, very attractive.
I tend to agree with Tony Alexanders points though - I don't see that a CGT is going to redirect massive amounts of cash into business investment, simply because the banks won't let you have the money for that purpose! It's fine if you want to borrow to buy property, or have property to back your loan, but forget it otherwise.
It might take a few years, but I think it's coming.
It really doesnt matter what
It really doesnt matter what BNZ do with their rates, they have laid of all home loan specialists and mobile managers now so if you wnat a home loan you have to go to them, jump through hoops - and then see if they have any money to lend based on their harsh lending criteria. They want to move away from soliciting home loan business and work more on deposits or funds under management as they have some big fines heading their way. I guess the bonus is people maturing off fixed go to a nice low floater while they try to find abank who can take over the BNZ loan and refix at their new lender.
I know few business owners
I know few business owners borrow money against their family home to put money into their business.
Matt S, my floating rate
Matt S, my floating rate has been tracking .5% below official rate for some time, I assume any good customer with decent portfolio / equity equation would get the same. Just like high risk pays .5 more or high interest on part of the loan.
lowering is just another marketing
lowering is just another marketing ploy competing and creating new business from those who cant afford it
Have the lowest while rates can be low, then pick up the profits WHEN rates increase.
Do we see the bank manager saying to the customer yes we have the lowest, and you can afford it now....but can you afford it in 2 yrs time when the interest rate will be 8 or 9% ...NO.
Well he meets the legal requirement to maximise profits to share holders within the law and no social responsibility to those less educated.
backyard Used car salesmen and bank mangers would have to be at the same level...still.
All the bank manager sees is even if they go under, the bank will still get their money back and make a profit to boot.
Who is Bill English ,
Who is Bill English , Lara ! You didn't see the movie ? Rowan Atkinson played his brother , Johnny .
@ Matt S That is
@ Matt S
That is exactly what I am saying - welcome to the game...
Caveman... 0.5 less that official
Caveman... 0.5 less that official rate? OCR you mean or bank rate?
Perhaps you can help readers how this is acheived and what you reckon is a good negotiating point? Worthwhile info.
For me, doesn't make much difference. 0.5% is neither here nor there, but for some this would be a major saving.
Sure others would be interested.
@ Janman It is called
@ Janman
It is called customer retention, if they about to lose you, they will pull all tricks out of the bag to retain you (provided of course that they want you) and it does add up, remember a penny found or saved is always worth more than a penny earned.
Thanks PoP, So if I
Thanks PoP,
So if I have it right, anyone who considers themselves a good risk (50:50 ratio??)
should be able to say,"Oy, I'm off elsewhere unless you sort the rate out! (politely of course).
Sound about right...? Okay guys, anyone who qualifies, let's hear back from you next week, and report how you got on. Bernard, make sure you ask how it went... this might be good... the advantages of blogging!
For me though Pop, if you're only paying a squiddly bit of interest, the value of changing is so low as to be negligible. Might save me $2 a week perhap a little more. I working to get out of debt, thus the interest is less important to me. The service I have is great so I am happy to pay a little premium.
Lara, Bill's that bloke being
Lara, Bill's that bloke being chased by a Mallard.
Watch the Mallard , Wally
Watch the Mallard , Wally , those ducks can be ferocious little buggers !
Only for nats Roger, they
Only for nats Roger, they eat nats.
@ Jamman more like "what's
@ Jamman
more like "what's the current shading on that - you'll get that sorted that out for me ASAP won't you" and "any chance of getting that back dated or shall we just make it from today?"
i doubt it will get back dated though, but it sets the theme of the conversation somewhat, saying you will be happy from it being from today...
Debt is not quite 50/50,
Debt is not quite 50/50, if I had 100k to put into term dep I'd want better than someone with 10k too! If you don't ask you don't get and never pay retail! Have been on 5.99 for some time when rate was 6.49, don't want to fix as restructuring soon.
Mozart - how can we
Mozart - how can we ever have a "balanced portfolio" in NZ when the sharemarket is worth $40 billion and the houisng market is worth $500 billion.
Great Site, Very interesting information,
Great Site, Very interesting information, keep up the great work and Info.
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