Bank drops owner-occupier rates

Commonwealth Bank-owned lender Bankwest has announced reductions of up to 16 basis points to its owner-occupier interest rate offerings, effective immediately for all new loan applications.

The lender noted that the changes apply to the bank’s Complete Variable, Premium Select and Complete Fixed Home Loan products.

Bankwest has also introduced tiered pricing on new lending for products with a loan to value ratio (LVR) of less than 90 per cent.

Rate changes are as follows:

• A decline of 13 basis points, from 3.85 per cent to 3.72 per cent, for new Complete Variable Home Loan applications with a loan size of at least $200,000, and an LVR of 80 per cent or less.
• A decline of 16 basis points, from 4.00 per cent to 3.84 per cent, for new Premium Select Home Loan applications with a loan size between $20,000 and $499,000, and an LVR of 80 per cent or less.
• A decline of 10 basis points, from 3.94 per cent to 3.84 per cent, for new Premium Select Home Loan applications with a loan size greater than $500,000, and an LVR of 80 per cent or less.
• A decline of 13 basis points, from 3.88 per cent to 3.75 per cent, for new two-year Complete Fixed Home Loan applications with a loan size of at least $200,000, and an LVR of 90 per cent or less.

Bankwest’s latest rate move follows out-of-cycle hikes on its home loan offerings in 2018, along with several other lenders, including the big four banks, in response to a sustained rise in wholesale funding costs.

[Related: Mortgage serviceability pressures easing]