Three more banks lower their home loan rates but only to levels in the middle of the pack - and one of them lowers term deposit rates as well

Three more banks have announced fixed home loan interest rate reductions.

But neither has set their new rates at a market-leading level, both playing it safe in the middle of the peloton.

Westpac has cut rates by between -14 basis points and -60 bps, somewhat as a reflection of how far from being competitive they had become.

Westpac is the only one to cut its six month fixed rate in a long time, taking -26 bps off it to 4.99%.

They made no change to their one year 'special' which stays at 4.29% which interestingly is the highest rate of any bank for this term for a 'special'. But they did reduce -30 bps off their standard rate.

They took -36 bps off their eighteen month rate, taking it down to a more reasonable 4.79% but still high compared with its peers.

And they took -14 bps off their two year 'special' with the new rate settling at 4.35%, the same as offered by ANZ.

-36 bps has taken off their three year 'special', taking it down to 4.49% - but not to a market leading level.

Westpac took a hefty -60 bps off their four year standard rate, reducing it to 5.29%, but ASB, Kiwibank, TSB, and HSBC Premier all have lower levels.

However, they weren't the only mover on Friday. BNZ has cut all its Classic home loan rates.

BNZ has reduced its one year Classic rate by -10 bps to 4.19% which matches ANZ and Kiwibank, as well as SBS Bank. But HSBC Premier is still in the market at 3.99% for that term.

For two years fixed, the new BNZ rate is 4.35%, a -14 bps drop to match ANZ and Westpac, but TSB and HSBC Premier have lower rates.

For three years fixed, the new BNZ rate is down by -36 bps to 4.49% and that also just matches Westpac and ANZ. But ASB is lower with the market-leading position.

BNZ has also cut term deposit rates from -5 basis points to -30 bps for terms of 18 months to five years. And they have cut standard rates for four and five years, plus trimming -20 bps off their unique seven year loan, taking it down to 5.95%.

Westpac did not announce term deposit rate cuts today, but their equivalent rates are already low.

Update: ASB also pushed through two reductions on Friday. Their one year 'special' is down by -10 bps to 4.19% and their two year 'special' is down by -14 bps to 4.35%. Again, these changes just match their rivals.

In the past two weeks, wholesale swap rates have not moved much at all and the rate curves have stopped tightening.

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

Here is the full snapshot of the fixed-term rates on offer from the key retail banks.

below 80% LVR	6 mths	1 yr	18 mth	2 yrs	3 yrs	4 yrs	5 yrs
as at September 12, 2018	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
	4.99	4.19	4.85	4.35	4.49	5.55	5.69
	4.95	4.19	4.39	4.35	4.39	4.95	5.09
	5.35	4.19	5.05	4.35	4.49	5.59	5.59
	4.99	4.19		4.39	4.85	5.19	5.39
	4.99	4.29	4.79	4.35	4.49	5.29	4.99
	4.80	4.24	4.45	4.49	4.85	5.39	5.59
	4.85	3.99	3.99	4.19	4.69	4.99	5.29
	4.99	4.19	4.49	4.49	4.85	5.39	5.55
	4.85	4.24	4.29	4.29	4.49	4.95	4.99

In addition to the above table, BNZ has a fixed seven year rate which has been reduced by -20 bps to 5.95%.

And TSB still has a 10-year fixed rate of 6.20%.