Following a very direct and clear signal that the RBNZ has turned hawkish and is preparing to take up the OCR later this year, banks have announced fixed rate increases on home loans.

First to move, and before the RBNZ signal, was ASB.

The RBNZ encourages movement. His meeting notes Says “The Committee agreed that any future increase in mortgage rates will further dampen house price growth.”

These follow market reactions that have pushed wholesale interest rates sharply higher, as well as the NZD temporarily rising.

First, Westpac signaled its rate hike last night, then BNZ raised rates and now ANZ has joined in its own fixed mortgage rate hikes.

ANZ, however, did not raise its rates as much as the ASB or the BNZ, leaving its tariff schedule under these main rivals.

The one-year ANZ rate is up +31 bps to 2.50%. Their eighteen-month rate is up +39 bps to 2.74%.

The new two-year ANZ rate is 2.90% and an increase of +31 bps, while their 3-year rate is now 3.24% and an increase of +25 bps.

ANZ is New Zealand’s largest mortgage lender and has never really had much to offer borrowers in the four- and five-year region. They did not make any changes to these longer rates, but it did bring the difference to a slightly lower level compared to ASB.

Westpac also took lower rate parameters than the ASB over the long term.

Of course, as with any bank, you can probably negotiate better rates (lower than these guaranteed rate levels), depending on the strength of your own financial situation.

Kiwibank has yet to announce its changes. We would expect them to arrive early next week if they don’t come today. The window of opportunity to enter cycle lows is therefore very short now.

Most of these banks have also raised some term deposit rates at the same time.

Now that we are in a mid-winter real estate season and sales volumes are declining somewhat, the time has come for bank pricing officials to push through rate hikes. Even if they overdo it, it will allow them to offer “promotions” and “discounts” when the spring real estate season kicks off – in just about eight weeks.

A useful way to understand these modified home loan rates is to use our full function mortgage calculators. (The rates for term deposits can be estimated using this calculator).

And if you already have a fixed-term mortgage that is not currently up for renewal, our break cost calculator can help you assess your options. Breakage fees should be minimal in a rising market.

Here is the updated snapshot of the lowest advertised term mortgage rates currently offered by major retail banks.