Sitting back and taking a calm attitude
Westpac is sticking to its forecast of a 3.25% OCR bottom.
More OCR cuts on the cards later this year
ANZ is adding two more OCR cuts to its economic forecast after next month’s expected drop to 3.25%.
Big increase in home loans made by banks
Despite a recession, the number and value of home loans were up by 21% in the second half of last year, compared to the first half.
The flow through of lower mortgage rates
Although carded one- and two-year fixed mortgage rates are now about 200 basis points (bp) below last year’s high the vast majority of lower mortgage rates have yet to flow though.
Time for FMA to put an end to banks’ pathetic excuses over OCR delays
Lobby group the Banking Reform Coalition wants the FMA to use its powers under the new Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) regime to get tough on banks not passing on OCR cuts in mortgage rates immediately.
Mortgage adviser charged with dishonesty
A mortgage adviser who allegedly submitted a false gifting certificate for a client’s home loan application has been charged by the FMA with dishonestly using a document.
Moving forward to the past - rates have further to fall
Kiwibank says the economic environment simply demands more interest rate relief.
More stories
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Advisers to be educated on lending for businesses
Newly minted HomeSec New Zealand manager Ziggy Munz is confident residential mortgage advisers will be able to add another arrow to their lending bow after an education programme he is planning.
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Banks slash floating lending and deposit rates after 25bp OCR cut
Banks began announcing cuts to their mortgage rates immediately after the Reserve Bank cut its official cash rate (OCR) to 3.5% from 3.75%, as most economists and market pricing had predicted.
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BREAKING: OCR: 3.5% - Further reduction in OCR appropriate
The Monetary Policy Committee today agreed to reduce the Official Cash Rate by 25 basis points to 3.5 percent.
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FMA will look at how long banks take to pass on OCR changes
With the Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) legislation having kicked in from March 31, one of the things that the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) will be focusing on will be how quickly banks pass on changes in the official cash rate (OCR) to borrowers.
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Longer term fixed interest rates slowly bite into floating terms
Two-year fixed mortgage rates are starting to slowly eat into the share of total lending by banks.
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Wild is the wind blowing through RBNZ
Westpac is going boldly where no other economists have gone. It says dropping the OCR on Wednesday is likely the wrong thing to do.
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Three offers recommendation lost in translation - ComCom
The Commerce Commission says its proposal that advisers have to submit three offers to clients has been "lost in translation".
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Borrowers behind in mortgage payments ebbing
As the country crawls out of recession, mortgage arrears have dropped slightly.
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Solution could be in the wings
After a “constructive meeting” with new Commerce and Consumers Affairs Minister Scott Simpson, FAMNZ country manager Leigh Hodgetts says he seems to understand the Commerce Commission’s insistence on mortgage advisers presenting three completed offers to borrowers will create chaos.
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RBNZ does a u-turn on bank capital requirements
The Reserve Bank has bowed to pressure from the Commerce Commission, the banks and submitters to parliament’s banking inquiry and will conduct a review of its bank capital requirements.
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Interest rates expected to plateau soon
A switch has been flipped for mortgage borrowers with the two-year 4.99% interest rate the main banks are now offering.
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Why was Westpac slow in passing on OCR cut?
Westpac gave an apparently contradictory answer as to why it was so slow to pass on the Reserve Bank’s interest rate cut last month to parliament’s finance and expenditure committee’s banking inquiry.
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Mortgage borrowers switching to new lenders continues at a steady pace
Switching to a new loan provider is still proving popular for mortgage borrowers.
