Kiwibank's final fixed home loan rate changes set it as the bank with the lowest six month rate, and the highest three year rate, otherwise similar to its main rivals

Kiwibank is the last of the majors to adjust its fixed home loan rates in a move started by Westpac after the last RBNZ MPS.

The state-owned bank has pushed its six month fixed rate -16 bps lower to 4.59% which is now the lowest of any bank for that short fixed term. That is lower than the previous leader for this term, ASB.

For rates longer than one year, it has raised rates, like most other banks. Broadly it has matched its big Aussie rivals, although its +20 bps rise for a three year fixed term takes it to a rate higher than any other bank for that term.

We should note that SBS Bank has also changed rates in the same basic pattern.

The result for all these pre-holiday changes is that all the main banks have rate cards within +/-10 bps of each other for each fixed term.

And for the most popular fixed terms from 6 months to two years, the curve is essentially flat, so little variance there either.

Borrowers wanting sharper rate offers will have to check the challenger banks, especially the Chinese banks.

Anna Breman, the new RBNZ Governor is watching, uncomfortable that financial conditions are tightening for retail rates. She has implied that the last RBNZ MPS didn't warrant this reaction. But if 'everyone else is doing it', why not Kiwibank?

To compare mortgage rate offers in a way that includes the application and account fees costs (or break fee costs if you need to do that), and applying the impact of a cashback/legal fee reimbursement, or other incentive, you can use our home loan comparison calculator. You can find it here. Or, for convenience, we have added it to the bottom of this article.

We sense the ability to achieve meaningful discounts from carded rates is now much harder, so the impact of the incentives offered are currently playing an outsized role. Reader-reported mortgage rates are welcome. So please record them if you have them in the comment section below, which helps us stay on top of this aspect of the home loan rates market.

And still negotiate. How flexible banks 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 here.

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 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 December 22, 2025	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
ANZ	4.69	4.49	4.69	4.69	5.09	5.69	5.69
	4.65	4.49	4.65	4.75	5.09	5.39	5.45
	4.69	4.49	4.64	4.69	5.09	5.29	5.29
	4.59 -0.16	4.49		4.69 +0.20	5.15 +0.30	5.49 +0.30	5.29 +0.20
	4.69	4.49	4.59	4.75	5.05	5.29	5.29
Bank of China	4.68	4.28	4.38	4.58	4.78	4.95	4.95
China Construction Bank	4.79	4.49	4.49	4.49	4.79	4.99	4.99
Co-operative Bank	4.65	4.45	4.49	4.79	5.09	5.29	5.49
ICBC	4.69	4.25	4.29	4.59	4.79	4.99	4.99
	4.69 -0.30	4.49	4.69 +0.20	4.69 +0.04	5.09 +0.24	5.29 +0.30	5.29 +0.20
	4.69	4.49	4.75	4.69	5.09	5.29	5.49