- Interest rate increases makebest home loan rate more important than ever for homebuying/refinancing - Interest in different means tonegotiate home loans - Fixed five year term most popularto date

New Zealanders focus on getting the lowest homeloan rate they can has driven high levels of interest inBankDirect s latest online home loan tender.

The tender,which runs for two weeks to February 27, allows peoplebuying a home or refinancing their existing mortgage to pickthe reduction they want off BankDirect s carded home loanrates. Successful parties will then be able to draw downfunds using their discount over the next few months.

AnnaCurzon, Marketing Manager at BankDirect says that in thefirst week the number of tenders entered have alreadyexceeded targets.

"We have seen real interest in thetender, which tells us two things: there definitely arepeople out there looking to buy or refinance; peoplerecognise the importance of getting the most competitiverate available. For people coming off a fixed ratenegotiating a 0.5% p.a. reduction on their new rate could bethe difference between affording to keep pay TV or headingto the café on the weekends or not.

"Of course there arepeople trying some ambitious tenders, but that is all partof the negotiation process. BankDirect is able to offer someof the most competitive mortgage rates in the market andonce again people are responding well to the innovative waywe offer products and services to them.

"One interestingpiece of anecdotal information is that in the first week ofthe tender two out of every five people have selected afixed five year term as their preference. This supports theview that many people are looking to longer term home loanfixed interest rates to protect themselves from a jump intheir repayments."

ENDS

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