ING Direct is the latest lender to announce policy changes to dampen investor growth, although the non-major says it will not be touching existing variable rate loans on investment properties.
According to communication sent to brokers, effective from today, Friday 31 July, interest rates based on LVRs will no longer apply for investment property loans.
In June, ING Direct announced rate increases for investment loans above 80% LVR, on its variable rate Mortgage Simplifier and Orange Advantage products. The new rates were advertised at 4.84% for the Orange Advantage investment loan and 4.72% for the Mortgage Simplifier investment loan.
The announcement today means that all investment loans, including those under 80% LVR, will be subject to those increased rates. However, the non-major lender said variable interest rates will not change for existing investment borrowers.
In the communication sent to brokers, the non-major also announced that fixed interest rates for investment loans will increase by 20 basis points, effective today. The new fixed rates will range from 4.59% on the one and two-year fixed rates to 4.78% for the five-year fixed rate. This will apply to all investment loan borrowers.
Investment loans will also not be eligible to receive the 0.10% discount off the fixed rate loan when combined with an Orange Advantage loan.
In addition, ING Direct will be capping all investment loans at 80% LVR, regardless of where the investment property is located. Previously, only investment loan applications in New South Wales were reduced to an 80% LVR.
The non-major has also announced a few changes to owner occupied loans. Firstly, refinancing owner occupied home loans will now be capped at 80% LVR. Secondly, ING DIRECT will reduce the loan amount threshold for its Orange Advantage interest rate promotion, from $750,000 to $500,000.
