The new rates will take effect in June
ANZ Bank New Zealand will lift the ANZ Home Loan Floating and ANZ Flexible Home Loan interest rates by 0.4% to 5.94% pa and 6.05% pa, respectively, after last week’s 0.5% OCR hike by the Reserve Bank.
Read more: Higher OCR: Another barrier for home buyers
Ben Kelleher, ANZ managing director for personal banking, said OCR was one of the many factors influencing bank lending rates, with rising wholesale interest rates across the year also impacting home loan rates.
Following last week’s OCR hike, ANZ economists now predict another 50bps increase in July, before the Reserve Bank returned to a more normal pace of increases.
“For those who haven’t experienced rising interest rates we understand this can add some extra stress, particularly with rising inflation impacting other household costs,” Kelleher said. “Our team are having good conversations with our customers to ensure they’re aware of the various options available to them. This may include options to alter the term of their loan and lower repayments if needed.”
Kelleher said mainstream banks assessed affordability at a higher interest rate to help take into account possible rate rises over the term of the loan.
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“We do encourage anyone who has concerns or wanted to take the opportunity to talk about their finances to get in touch with us early,” he said. “We’re here to support our customers and can take people through the various personal finance options available to them.”
The new ANZ Home Loan floating interest rate will take effect on June 2 for new loans and June 16 for existing loans. The new rate for ANZ Flexible Home Loan will apply starting June 16 for both new and existing loans.
