Bank hikes mortgage rates by up to 40 bps

ING has hiked fixed mortgage rates by up to 20 bps for owner-occupiers and by up to 40 bps for investors, effective for new applications submitted from 19 June.

Owner-occupied fixed rates now start from 2.19 per cent (3.79 per cent comparison rate), while investor rates start from 2.94 per cent (4.46 per cent comparison rate).

ING’s rate hikes come amid interest rate reductions from several of its competitors, including the big four banks, which have leveraged low funding costs to attract new business.

Last week, NAB reduced its fixed home loan rates by up to 15 bps, weeks out from the opening of the second phase of the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme.

However, ING is not the only lender to lift fixed rates amid reductions, with Newcastle Permanent, Teachers Mutual Bank Ltd (TMBL) and ANZ also hiking rates in recent weeks.

Both ANZ and TMBL’s changes followed spikes in the banks’ home lending volumes, with TMBL reporting a 300 per cent increase in monthly applications.

Mortgage Business reached out to ING for a statement regarding its decision to hike rates, but the bank declined to comment.

Meanwhile, heightened competition for high-quality owner-occupied borrowers continues to trigger reductions in variable mortgage rates, particularly off the back of five 25 bps reductions to the official cash rate over the past 12 months.

According to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s latest property exposure statistics, mortgage rates have dropped from a weighted average of 4.2 per cent in the March quarter of 2019 to a weighted average of 3.1 per cent.

[Related: Major bank cuts rates, gears up for second round of FHLDS]