Australian lenders NAB, ANZ to raise home loan rates by 50 bps

(Reuters) – Australia and New Zealand Banking Group joined National Australia Bank in raising its variable home loan interest rates on Friday, passing on the central bank’s 50 basis points (bps) rate hike in full to their customers.

Westpac Banking Corp and the country’s top lender Commonwealth Bank of Australia are also likely to raise their mortgage rates, after the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) raised its cash rate for the fifth time since May to a seven-year high of 2.35%.

New rates for customers of ANZ and NAB will become effective on Sept. 16, they said.

Both the lenders added that rates for savings accounts remain under review.

Australian lenders so far have been in lockstep with the RBA in passing the full rate hike to their customers, expecting to reap benefits at a time when the country’s property market is showing signs of cooling.

Housing prices in the country took their biggest spill in 40 years in August, as rising interest rates and cost-of-living pressures blew a hole in demand, threatening to undermine household wealth and confidence.

(Reporting by Harish Sridharan; Additional reporting by Jaskiran Singh; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Rashmi Aich)