Bank hikes variable home loan rates

ME today confirmed that the bank has increased rates for new ‘owner-occupier’ Flexible Member Package home loans and some ‘owner-occupier’/‘investor’ fixed rate home loans, by between 0.05 per cent and 0.15 per cent.

ME head of home loans, Patrick Nolan, said the increases were based on increasing swap rates – up 40 basis points since 31 August – and the increasing cost of deposit funding, noting ME is moving to the Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) on 1 January 2017.

“Despite the increases, ME’s variable and fixed rates are some of the lowest in the market across both owner occupier and investor loans,” he said.

ME rate changes effective 23 November 2016

Product	Current rate		Discount change		New rate
Owner Occupier Home Loans
Flexible Member Package LVR 80% or Less, Loan Amount $400-$700K		3.79%		0.05%		3.84%
Flexible Member Package LVR 80% or Less, Loan Amount $700K or more		3.69%		0.10%		3.79%
2 Year Fixed Rate		3.69%		0.15%		3.84%
3 Year Fixed Rate		3.69%		0.15%		3.84%
Investor Home Loans
3 Year Fixed Rate		3.89%		0.10%		3.99%