Kiwibank has the second lowest mortgage rate in the market today after dropping its floating mortgage interest rate to 5.65%.The 14 basis point cut makes Kiwibank the first bank to cut its variable rate this year, although fixed mortgages have been on the
Kiwibank has the second lowest mortgage rate in the market today after dropping its floating mortgage interest rate to 5.65%.
The 14 basis point cut makes Kiwibank the first bank to cut its variable rate this year, although fixed mortgages have been on the rise over the past few weeks.
Kiwibank’s new variable rate is only beaten by BNZ’s 5.59% on its Total Money mortgages, which has remained the lowest since BNZ cut 26 basis points in September to take the lead.
There was a flurry of activity in the floating mortgage market at that time, with Westpac and ASB also dropping their rates to record levels that month.
While there have been few changes since then, Kiwibank said the latest drop was in response to increasing competition in the variable mortgage scene.
While cutting its variable rate, Kiwibank also announced a 10 bps rise on its 18-month mortgage rate to 6.49%.
It increased its fixed mortgage rates twice in October.
Floating mortgage rates are expected to remain at historically low levels as long as the Official Cash Rate sits at its record low of 2.5%, a level that bank governor Alan Bollard has indicated will remain until the middle of the year.
