by Jenny Ruth
Bollard cut his official cash rate (OCR) 50 basis points from 3% to 2.5%. Traditionally, banks' floating rates have been about 200 basis points higher than the 90-day bank bill rate, currently 2.71% but the four major home lending banks' rates remain between 6.4% and 6.49%.
Bollard will review the OCR, which directly influences the 90-day bank bill rate, on June 11.
However, mortgage lenders continue to chip away at their six-months and one-year fixed rates. The latest to move were Public Trust, which cut its six-month rate 44 basis points to 5.4% and its one-year rate by 19 points to 5.5%, and Southern Cross, which cut its six-month and one-year rates by 20 points each to 5.49%.
Westpac has the lowest six-month rate at 5.39%, having cut it a couple of weeks ago while Southern Cross' one-year fixed rate is now equal lowest in the market with Westpac's.
But longer-term mortgage rates, which are determined more by global interest rates rather than anything Bollard does, continue to creep higher. A week ago, ANZ and National Bank raised their three-year rate 10 points to 6.85%, their four-year rate by 25 points to 7.4% and their five-year rate by 35 points to 7.85% -- the latter has increased 110 points since the beginning of April.
SBS has now matched ANZ National's five-year rate, having raised its rate by 25 points. General Finance/Cairns Lockie has also raised its three, four and five-year rates by 10, 25 and 35 points respectively to 6.95%, 7.5% and 7.95%.
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