Two banks to cut interest rates ahead of Reserve Bank's February ...

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Two banks will cut interest rates on Tuesday, ahead of the Reserve Bank's February official cash rate review.

BNZ said it was reducing its six-month home loan rate to 5.89 percent, effective Wednesday.

Spokesperson Karna Luke said there had been a spike in people choosing shorter terms and about 60 percent of customers were on floating home loans or fixed for six months.

TSB said it would cut its one-year rate to 5.35 percent, its six-month rate to 5.89 percent, the 18-month rate to 5.49 percent and the two-year rate to 5.29 percent.

The Reserve Bank was expected to cut the official cash rate by another 50 basis points on Wednesday.

That is likely to have an impact on floating home loan rates and the shortest terms.

But commentators have warned that there may not be much further for the longer-term fixes to fall.

ASB economists warned last week that longer-term rates could stay at their current levels or increase.

"Significant falls for the longest fixes are unlikely and upward pressure is developing."

They said there was a trade-off for borrowers to weigh up between the cost of the mortgage rate, interest rate certainty from longer fixes, the flexibility of shorter terms and the potential for more rate cuts."

ANZ economists had a similar message at the end of last month.

"Fixed rates may not fall a lot further now that the OCR is approaching what many forecasters expect to be the low. We, for example, expect the OCR to bottom out at 3.50 percent in April, which is only 25bp below where it will soon be, assuming the Reserve Bank follows through on its signalled 50bp cut in February, which will take the OCR to 3.75 percent.

"But as those cuts are now priced in (and almost universally expected by other forecasters and financial markets), when they are delivered, they are unlikely to have much of an impact on wholesale interest rates, and by extension, mortgage rates."

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