The increases mean the bank is no longer the cheapest on the market
ANZ has raised its 18 month and two year fixed mortgage rates, the first rate increases for the bank in 2020.
ANZ’s ‘special’ 18 month rate has risen to 3.49%, up from 3.39%, and its two year rate is now 3.65%, up from 3.55%. However, the bank has also lowered its one year rate by 10 basis points to 3.45%.
ANZ’s new 18 month rate is currently the third cheapest rate on the market, behind ICBC’s 3.18% rate and BNZ’s ‘classic’ 3.39% rate. Its new two year rate puts it behind most of its main competitors in terms of price, with BNZ, ASB, Westpac, Kiwibank and other lenders all offering cheaper two-year rates.
The rate increases are being implemented despite a downward trend in wholesale rates over the past weeks. Banks have been tentatively lifting rates since December, signalling a potential lull in the ‘mortgage rate war’ which was in full swing over 2019 as the OCR dropped.
ANZ economists are currently expecting the OCR to remain at 1% “for the foreseeable future,” and are no longer forecasting further cuts in 2020.
“The RBNZ held the OCR in November,” the bank noted in its January economic outlook.
“This, alongside resurgence in the housing market and some improvement in the data pulse has seen the market pull back expectations for further easing. We too have pulled back our expectation and now expect the OCR to remain on hold at 1% for the foreseeable future.”
