Cuts are in line with NZ's ongoing low interest rate environment
HSBC has announced fresh mortgage rate cuts for its one year and eighteen months fixed home loans, offering a ‘special’ carded rate of 3.85% across both terms.
This follows HSBC’s ‘special’ home loan rate announcement this June, where the bank cut its 18-month fixed home loan rate to 3.85% for owner-occupiers and investors for eight weeks. The bank had also previously launched its 3.95% p.a. rate in February 2016, the lowest residential mortgage rate in New Zealand for over 50 years at the time.
The new rates are available to HSBC Premier customers, and are currently the lowest mortgage rates on the market.
This comes off the back of an ongoing low interest rate environment, with ANZ and ASB also slashing several of their home loan rates this June and the Official Cash Rate (OCR) looking set to remain at 1.75% until early or mid-2020.
ASB economists have predicted mortgage rates to remain at their current levels into 2019, however have warned borrowers to carefully consider their risk appetite when selecting interest rates, as some have the potential to rise faster than others.
“Our forecasts suggests that rolling shorter fixed rates could potentially provide lower interest rate costs, so long as the outlook doesn’t change compared to what we’re currently expecting,” ASB economist Kim Mundy stated. “Mortgage rates are influenced by a number of factors, but bank competition and easing funding costs appear to be the catalyst for the most recent mortgage rates moves.”
