Bluestone cuts variable rate

Bluestone’s cheapest variable rate has fallen to 4.59%, and is available for customers with 60% LVR.

Bluestone's Peter Wood told TMM Online the lender is keen to take on banks with the “pretty sharp” variable offering.

The cuts, effective this week, will also lead to reductions across most of Bluestone’s fixed rate products, Wood said.

The rate cuts are effective across products including Bluestone’s white label programme Select, which is offered through NZFSG and Loan Market.

According to TMM’s mortgage rates table, the cheapest variable rate on offer from New Zealand banks is 5.15%, from Kiwibank and The Co-operative Bank.

Wood said Bluestone is trying to be a “market leader” and as “competitive as we can”: “If you look at bank variable rates they start from 5%, so these are pretty sharp rates for a non-bank. We know there are a lot of deals on offer from the banks so we are trying to push our rates and cater to the market.”

Wood added:"Bluestone always strives to be on the front foot, to create a market leading position. We’re excited to be the first non-bank to pass on these savings to our customers. It shows our commitment to blazing the trail for non-bank lenders in New Zealand.”

Australian-headquartered Bluestone, backed by the American investment giant Cerberus, claims to be the first non-bank to pass on the Reserve Bank’s OCR cut. The cuts come after RBNZ slashed the OCR by 50 basis points last month.

Other non-banks are reviewing their variable rates following the OCR cut. Luke Jackson, general manager of Resimac in New Zealand, said the lender was "reviewing its floating rate and is planning to make an announcement shortly".