Bankwest has announced a series of pricing and policy changes affecting principal & interest as well as interest only loans for new borrowers.
By tweaking the bank’s various products, this maintains the appropriate balance across the lender’s home loan portfolio and brings it in line with regulatory guidelines, said Bankwest general manager of policy and pricing Paul Vivian.
“We aim to balance the needs of our customers, shareholders, regulators and the community when reviewing our products and pricing,” he said. “As always, we are mindful of our broader obligations as a responsible lender.”
The following changes will come into effect from today (16 June):
- The maximum LVR for IO lending has been reduced to 80%
- Fixed home loans in the Complete Package will only be available on a P&I basis
- The 3-Year Complete Fixed Loan rate for owner-occupiers has been reduced by 31 basis points to 3.78% p.a. (4.36% p.a. comparison rate)
- Interest rates for the Standard Fixed Rate Home Loan product for investors and owner-occupiers will increase between 0.04% p.a. and 0.34% p.a.
- The bank will reinstate applications from non-Bankwest customers for standalone refinance of P&I investor purpose loans
- The Complete Variable Home Loan rate for new P&I investment lending with LVR less than or equal to 90% (including LMI) will drop by 30 basis points for loans between $200,000 and $499,000 and by 40 basis points for loans of $500,000 or greater
“We will continue to assess our capacity to provide interest-only lending based on regulator guidance,” Vivian said.
Related stories:
Virgin Money raises variable IO rates
Non-bank drops commercial interest rates
Challenger bank adjusts home loan rates
