It is still quiet on the home loan front two days out from the official cash rate announcement. As noted yesterday the prevailing view is that there will be no change to the OCR and therefore mortgage rates will stay static. However, attention will shift to any comments from the governor on when the OCR may start rising again. This could lead to some changes in pricing strategy as lenders attempt to encourage borrowers from floating to fixed rates.
Westpac has just released its quarterly economic forecast which spends a lot of time looking at the consequences of the Christchurch earthquake. However it also notes that house prices stopped falling around October last year and the March OCR cut may have added further "zing" to the market. It is expecting a 4% increase in house prices this year. Full report here.
