Home loan rate report

Friday 18th July 2008

It has been another pretty quiet week in the home loan market with few changes to report and none from the banks.

However, that could all change next week. The Good Returns survey of economists shows that there is a chance that the Reserve Bank could ease the official cash rate next Thursday, which no doubt will lead to cuts in mortgage rates.

Even, if it doesn�t make a cut the tone of the statement will be closely watched and that may have some bearing on current home loan rates. For instance if the markets read into and see bigger cuts than previously expected then the wholesale market and rates on offer will move.

While there is a huge volume of fixed rate loans coming up for renewal the signs are that new loan applications are well down.

To see how they compare with last year check out this story.

Of the changes which were made during week they were all from non-bank lenders. Asteron, General Finance and Presto Mortgages each reduced their three-year rates by 10 points and PSIS reduced its rates cross the range from six-month to four-years, by 5 points. United Home Loans went the opposite and increased its one and two-year rates by 20 points and its three-year rate by 10 points.

You can see a table listing all the standard home loan rates and changes in the past week here.

Currently, economists are suggesting the best option for borrowers is to take a short-term, six months to a year, and refix again when rates are forecast to be considerably lower than they are today.

This link takes you to a table of one-year rates sorted from lowest to highest.

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