Bankwest pulls investor loans from brokers for new customers
Bankwest has pulled investor home loans from sale through its broker channel following investor rate increases last month.
Bankwest has pulled investor home loans from sale through its broker channel following investor rate increases last month.Bankwest has today informed brokers they can no longer offer investment products, according to the AFR. This follows increases of up to 0.30% to investor rates across both fixed and variable investor loans last month.
The AFR has speculated that the lender may be nearing the 10% lending speed limit set by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) following its investor crackdown. Bankwest isn’t the first lender to make such changes to stay within the APRA regulations. Teachers Mutual Bank last year pulled investor loans as it exceeded the 10% investor lending growth limit set by APRA.
According to the report, Bankwest sent a memo to brokers informing them of the change saying, “it will no longer accept applications from new customers seeking to refinance their stand-alone investment lending”.
In a possible attempt to offset the bank's investment lending, Bankwest is offering special offers to owner occupiers including waiving the $695 application fee on its Equaliser Home Loans. It has also tightened terms and conditions on investor loans, particularly for overseas borrowers who can only borrow a loan-to-value ratio (LVR) of 60%.
The memo also stated that Bankwest “will continue to monitor the impact this change has on our customers and the market, in order to maintain prudent lending and sustainable business”.
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