New Zealand home buyers got another boost this morning when The Co-operative Bank dropped its home loan rate to 4.99% for 18 months.
Chief Executive Bruce McLachlan said the bank was offering the rate until the end of May, without any cash incentive.
“We understand that cash incentives can be attractive to customers, but that’s not necessarily what’s best for the home buyer,” he said. “I think it’s more attractive to get the lowest rate in the market from a bank that’s working solely for the benefit of its customers.
“Here at the Bank, we’re driven by a fundamental belief in fairness. Rather than complicating the offer with extra incentives, we prefer to be transparent. We’re saying, ‘We’re offering the best rate in the market, full stop.’”
Also in the interest of fairness, the bank is offering the rate to new and existing customers.
Over recent months, interest rates have been trending downwards due to low inflation and global interest rate trends. The Co-operative Bank is making adjustments to both lending and deposit rates to reflect these trends, but also to bring transparency to real market pricing.
