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SBS Bank launches a new low three year mortgage rate 'special' which is now the lowest carded rate for that term

SBS Bank launches a new low three year mortgage rate 'special' which is now the lowest carded rate for that term

SBS Bank has cut its three year 'special' home loan rate.

The new rate is 4.65%, representing a reduction of -14 bps.

That means SBS Bank now offers the lowest three year carded rate in New Zealand.

The new rate will be available from Monday, January 18, 2015. At this time they have changed no other mortgage rates.

SBS Bank 'specials' require a minimum of 20% equity, with wages or salary payments made into an SBS Bank transaction account.

The new rate is available to existing SBS Bank customers, but new customers can only qualify if they take new lending of $100,000 or more, and take up at least one SBS insurance product.

Their new 3 year rate gives than a 10 bps advantage over ASB and the Cooperative Bank for that term, and a larger advantage of all other banks.

A three year fixed rate basically comes with a +30 bps premium over a two year rate these days.

SBS Bank was the only home loan institution to offer a rate below 4% in the past 40 years with its recent 3.99% one-year 'special', but that offer ended on January 10. It's current one year rate is 4.35% a level offered by others, and one above the 4.25% offered by HSBC to is Premier clients.

The next review of the OCR will happen in two weeks, on Thursday, January 28, 2016. Markets are currently not expecting any change at that time.

But wholesale swap markets are changing, especially for terms 2-5 years as risk aversion sinks in.

Market turmoil and uncertainty in China will also influence rate pricing if it continues. This will mainly be felt through the risk premiums that wholesale borrowers must pay to access funds. These risk premiums have been rising fast in the past few days, even as wholesale rates have been softening.

See all banks' carded, or advertised, home loan interest rates here.

Mortgage rates now compare across all banks as follows:

below 80% LVR Floating  1 yr  18mth  2 yrs   3 yrs   5 yrs 
    % % % % %
5.74 4.35 4.95 4.49 5.10 5.35
ASB 5.75 4.39 4.49 4.49 4.75 5.25
5.79 4.39 5.09 4.49 5.25 5.50
Kiwibank 5.65 4.49   4.49 4.85 5.35
Westpac 5.85 4.39 4.95 4.35 4.80 5.35
             
5.70 4.39 4.49 4.49 4.75 5.15
HSBC 6.10 4.25   4.49 4.99 4.99
HSBC 5.74 4.35 4.69 4.49 4.65 5.29
5.74 4.35 4.69 4.39 4.79 5.35

In addition, BNZ has a fixed seven year rate of 5.90%, while TSB Bank offers a fixed ten year rate also at 5.75%.

Fixed mortgage rates

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6 Comments

on one hand they need to cut, but then how do they stop it all going into bigger mortgages, they need to bring in L to I with lower limits for FHB only.
I am also starting to come around to the idea of rent controls

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...forget rent controls, just remove expense deductions from domestic property. You can't claim the gst or depreciation, so it's just another step (tax any revenues of course). Put first home buyers on an equal footing with the exploiters.

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"rent controls" .... that was a conversation killer.
Do you have some experience with rent controls? What rent control measures do you recommend?

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maybe like the ones in one of the biggest cities in the free market capital of te world
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_control_in_New_York

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ANZ and Westpac did 4.45% for me for two clients on Friday. Just saying!

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