ANZ to increase variable interest rates for all Australian variable home residential investment loans

ANZ has increased variable interest rates for all Australian variable home and residential investment loans to partially offset rising regulatory capital requirements against home lending, chief executive officer Mark Whelan announced.

The standard variable rate for owner-occupier home loans will increase by 0.18%pa to 5.56%pa and the Residential Investment Property loan index will increase by 0.18%pa to 5.83%pa, with changes coming into effect 20 November.

The increase, a total of 18 basis points, will add $36 per month to the average home loan of $242,000, according to ANZ. 

Ashley Playsted, CEO of Wealthie, the mortgage brokering service, said he expected consumer confidence would take a hit, "but consumers need to proactively turn their attention to the less publicly-known lenders, who are actually putting their rates down."