 BankWest matches other banks in rate cut
Along with other bank and non-bank lenders, BankWest has cut home loan interest rates by 80 basis points, following the Reserve Bank of Australia's decision to cut rates on Tuesday.
The Big Five - BankWest, Commonwealth, National Australia Bank, Westpac, ANZ and St George - all lowered their variable home loan rates by 80 basis points, for new and existing customers, with the rates to be rolled out over the coming week, some already in effect as of today, other banks waiting until next week.
BankWest, which is set to be bought by the Commonwealth Bank, has bought it's standard variable rate down to 8.45 per cent, as of October 17, and the Rate Tracker mortgage will come down to 7.55 per cent. Currently, BankWest has about one-third of the WA home loan market.
The cuts will bring some relief to home-owners who have found themselves in mortgage stress recently with high interest rates. The savings will be welcomed most by those households already struggling to pay for the higher costs of groceries and petrol.
BankWest chief executive Ian Corfield said it equated to a saving of $171.91 a month on a 30-year $300,000 mortgage.
The bank is now reviewing rates for their fixed-rate mortgages and deposit rates, and home-owners now wait to see if there will be any further rate cuts this year. Most economists were not expecting such a large rate cut from the RBA, instead predicting between 0.25 per cent and 0.50 per cent.
There is some discussion over whether the banks should pass on the full 100 basis points that the RBA decided on, but banks are still claiming that high borrowing costs mean that they can justify keeping some of the savings themselves.
The one per cent rate cut from the RBA was decided on Tuesday and is the biggest one-off cut since 1992.
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