Business

Further falls likely for fixed mortgages

05:45 am on 31 October 2014

Fixed-rate mortgages are likely to fall further now that the Reserve Bank has become very vague on when it might raise official interest rates again.

Yesterday, the central bank kept its official cash rate, or OCR, steady at 3.5 percent, as expected.

Westpac chief economist Dominick Stephens said fixed-rate mortgages have already been falling.

Late yesterday, HSBC announced a special one-year fixed home-loan rate of 5.39 percent.

BNZ has been lowering rates

The Bank of New Zealand has also been discounting, offering three-year fixed mortgages at 5.85 percent with a $3000 cash bonus for those borrowing at least $250,000.

Yesterday, BNZ reported a 22 percent jump in annual net profit to $850 million.

Chief executive Anthony Healy said it was a solid result, helped by a rebound in mortgage lending volumes in the second half.