Interest Rates

[JABlog]

Did anyone fix with Kiwi bank @ 5.99 for 5 yrs?.

[muppet]

Westpac says 'time to fix', ANZ says wait

10:30 AM Friday Mar 2, 2012
Fix or float? Depends who you ask. File photo / APN

Westpac economists have renewed their advice to home borrowers to fix their mortgage interest rates now because interest rates can only rise from here as the Christchurch rebuild starts putting inflationary pressure on the economy.
Westpac's chief economist Dominick Stephens says fixed interest rates for terms of two to four years make most sense, but his counterpart at the ANZ Bank, Cameron Bagrie, says it's still too early to call, with risks to economic recovery outweighing the impact of a Christchurch-driven building boom.
The difference boils down in part to expectations about the timing of any increase in the Reserve Bank's official cash rate, which is currently at a historic low of 2.5 per cent and is not expected to fall any further, even if the European debt crisis triggers another global financial meltdown.
While the Reserve Bank is expected to leave the OCR untouched at its quarterly update next Thursday, Westpac sees the rate rising by the end of this year, and heading up more sharply than many financial market participants expect. That's based on an expectation the construction industry will struggle to meet demand, fuelling inflation in 2013 and 2014.
The Overnight Swap curve sees 23 basis points of increases in the OCR over the next 12 months.
Other forecasters, including the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research quarterly forecasts released this week, anticipate no move in the OCR before mid-2013 because of ongoing weakness in the domestic economy.
Westpac's Stephens cites the "rush" of borrowers who sought low fixed interest rates in 2009, which led to a sharp rise in rates caused by strong demand.

More in the Granny at http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/n...ectid=10789289

[Bluekiwi]

Westpac says these things "May" impact on the fixed rates and hence see's no reason to wait.
Its tricky, you dont want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but you dont want to make the call too early.
But maybe the euro crisis has turned, and likely the quakes are also behind us now.

[SwissKiwi]

Westpac says these things "May" impact on the fixed rates and hence see's no reason to wait.
Its tricky, you dont want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but you dont want to make the call too early.
But maybe the euro crisis has turned, and likely the quakes are also behind us now.

Yes the time is drawing near.

3 years @6.10% - the discount = 5.85ish%

Neeeigh - that's the gift horse.

[unhinged]

Who wants to lock in at 5.39% for six months if you could get the same or below on your floating?

Really, I have three mortgages with Kiwibank, all floating, and just applied for a fourth. Are you saying I should look at changing banks to get a better deal or ask Kiwibank what they can do ?

[Bluekiwi]

Do both, say you are looking around, a better deal from another bank will put pressure on Kiwi.

[unhinged]

Do both, say you are looking around, a better deal from another bank will put pressure on Kiwi.

ask and you shall recieve, Kiwibank have offered a discount without any pressure in under 3 hours since asking.

[Davo36]

Do did you ask them for a better rate? Or just hint you were looking elsewhere? Or was this entirely out of the blue from them?

[Bluekiwi]

Say you will compare this with other quotes just to scare them

[unhinged]

Do did you ask them for a better rate? Or just hint you were looking elsewhere? Or was this entirely out of the blue from them?

Asked while in the process of arranging a said new loan

[Bluekiwi]

My friend wants to refix 230k in August with a new bank possibly, for 3 or 4 years, what sort of discount off the published rate would you expect for this sort of thing.

[unhinged]

Say you will compare this with other quotes just to scare them

I don't think so, they have discounted by a lot more than they offered to do a year or two ago and in the region of what is mentioned in a earlier post on the previous page

[Fenix]

I'm with New Zealand Home Loans and I just fixed nearly half of my mortgage for 2 years at 5.5% and the rest floating at 5.6%...
Westpac down the road offered 5.49 for two years as a special, I took it to NZHL and they matched it. As I feel they offer great service unlike the banks, I happily stayed put.

[NovInvestor]

Westpac can do 5.1% fixed for 1 year... I heard that ANZ can match that as well...they really want business...

[Fenix]

They're all working hard to keep their own customers and poach a few off the competition.