Westpac has reduced its home loan interest rates, becoming the first bank to make such a move after the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) softened its stance on the official cash rate.
Westpac’s new rates include a 25 basis point drop for its one-year special rate to 6.89%, a 19 basis point decrease for its six-month special rate to 7.05%, and a 10 basis point reduction for its 18-month special rate to 6.79%.
The change in rates follows the RBNZ’s recent acknowledgment that inflation is easing, which has led to an expectation that interest rates will ease accordingly.
Westpac’s general manager, Sarah Hearn, highlighted the importance of supporting customers who may be facing financial difficulties or looking to refinance at lower rates.
Too little too late
For some people
Rates
Power
Insurance
Mortgage
Credit card
Car payments
The average joe bloggs is just getting hammered every which way
Can’t carry on like this
Maybe we will all own nothing and be hungry
Banks are not kind. This is not a marketing stunt or favour from Westpac. The reason for the rate cut is it is better to take a smaller hit now than a larger hit later.
Not withstanding all property has fallen significantly across the nation. For a group of victims, part of the trouble is house prices have fallen sharply from its peak in 2021 to 2024. The people who borrowed in 2021 are paying far more and have lost their deposit equity.
The difference between NZ mortgagee sales and US foreclosures is in NZ, the borrower keeps an overdraft until it is paid in full while in US the bank takes the hit. In NZ, it may very well be far less costly and quicker to recover to choose bankruptcy. That’s the bigger hit to the bank I was talking about earlier.
But of course thats not the only situation.
Slow to govern population to replace just so many who have abandoned NZ for significant pay, has left not enough population for the now over supply of housing in NZ. Most effected is in Wellington from government lay-offs and small town NZ.
I don’t blame the people who have left.
Wellington isn’t just about right wing governments dismissing unneeded public servants, but left wing governments hiring far too many in the first place. The lack of responsibility to over commit this country and dismiss is a costly one. Putting ideology before practicality is causing significant harm across the nation. It includes, breakup of families, fatherless and motherless children and children living in poverty. Benefit costs, benefit fraud, crime, poorly lives and suicide.
You would like to think it is all about responsibility to the citizens of NZ, but it’s not. Excessive taxes are not for political gain. Realistic levels of taxation is to be used for public services in moderation and infrastructure to allow growth.
Impractical legislation that allows citizens to live with each other for just 3 years and separate, resulting in forcing landowners to give-away 50% of what he or she owns. This has given rise to one person per dwelling, clogging the court’s, rich lawyers and costly dreary lives.
Acting PM David Seymour is right. Interest rates need to fall smartly to stabilise the economy. The only thing I could add to that is to aggressively pursue the invitation to the German supermarket chain operating in Australia. That would have to involve legislation to force the sale of quite a few existing stores to Aldi in order to break the duopoly.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/duopoly.asp
Like Telecom in the day, Woolworths (aka Progressive Foods) $6.2Bn and Goodman Fielder are taking far too much from the nation.
If we can legislate our young men to be drafted into war and die, then we can legislate the breaking of the food distribution cartel in NZ. The duopoly has had their forever chance. They have had their day.
Hallo realism!!
Food wrapped in plastic increased it’s overinflated price by 50%
Banks hid behind URLs and ATMs
Doctors became celebrities and mechanics became extinct
Great summation thank you 😊