Kiwibank has dropped its one-year mortgage rate to reportedly the lowest-ever offered by a New Zealand bank.
The one-year rate is now 3.55 percent, and its two-year rate 3.65 percent, following last week's surprise cut to the official cash rate (OCR).
Finance news site interest.co.nz said Kiwibank's new one-year rate was the lowest in history from a New Zealand bank.
"The new Kiwibank rates involve an impressive cut of -24 basis points for the one-year rate and -14 bps for the new two-year rate, and this positions them much lower than all their main rivals in the big Aussie banks," said author David Chaston.
But he predicts that won't last for long. Rates for four-year terms and longer all remain above 4 percent, but Chaston says they're likely to dip below 3 percent once the spring real estate market gets into swing.
The Reserve Bank cut the OCR from 1.5 to 1 percent earlier this month, citing slowing GDP growth and "growing headwinds" in the economy.
"Global long-term interest rates have declined to historically low levels, consistent with low expected inflation and growth rates into the future."
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Earlier this week, the big banks all cut their rates - including ANZ, ASB and BNZ.
Kiwibank also has the lowest variable rate at 5.15 percent, tied with the Co-operative Bank and China-owned ICBC.
Newshub.
