(25 May 2012 – New Zealand) ASB Bank made further cuts to its fixed home loan rates on Thursday, following reductions in its longer term rates last week.The bank cut its six month and 18 month fixed home loan rates – the six-month term rate will drop 0.5 percentage points to 5.25 percent from today, while the 18-month rate will drop 0.4 percentage points to 5.4 percent.
The cut follows two weeks of competitive rate slashing among New Zealand banks, with the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) most recently cutting its fixed mortgage rates across the board yesterday to bring it in line with competitors.
Only SBS and HBS’s conditional six-month rates are lower than ASB’s, while only BNZ’s 5.1 percent rate is lower than ASB’s on an 18-month term.
The other major banks – ANZ, Westpac and National – are offering fixed 18-month rates of 5.55 percent.