by Paul McBeth
Floating mortgage rates have breached eight per cent again, with today's announcement from Bank of New Zealand of a rate jump from 7.6 per cent to 8.1 per cent paving the way for increases from other lenders.
BNZ cited last week's rise in the Official Cash Rate as a reason for the move, saying that it cemented in a 1.8 per cent rise in bank floating rate funding costs since March 1999. The trading banks have been offering floating mortgages at 7.6 per cent over the last couple of months, while most other lenders' rates range from 7.10 to 7.50 per cent.
The bank said the effect of the new floating rate would increase the repayments on a $100,000 loan with a 25-year term from $745.94 a month (at 7.6 per cent) to $778.92.