Sweden's major banks cut rates on variable mortgages
The central bank's decision to lower the main interest rate on May 8th has led all four of Sweden's major banks to follow, dropping rates on variable mortgages.
In what will come as a relief for many Swedish homeowners, Sweden's central bank announced on May 8th that it was cutting the key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.75 percent – the first cut in eight years.
Sweden's four major banks – Nordea, Swedbank, Handelsbanken and SEB – responded by lowering rates on their variable rate mortgages by the same amount, 0.25 percentage points.
That means that Nordea's new list rate – the maximum rate offered for new mortgages, with no discounts taken into account – will be 5.74 percent from May 10th.
Swedbank will be lowering its list rate by 0.25 percentage points to 5.69 percent, although there's bad news, too: the bank is lowering interest rates for saving accounts by 0.20 percentage points.
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Handelsbanken's new list rate will be the same as Swedbank's: 5.69 percent.
"We're continuously following these developments and are constantly adapting our offering to remain competitive in the long term," county head of Handelsbanken Stockholm, Mikael Romert, said in a press statement.
Länsförsäkringar is also lowering its rates on variable term mortgages to 5.69 percent, a drop of 0.25 percentage points.
State-owned SBAB is not planning on lowering its rate, although product manager Lars Lindmark pointed out that the bank has lowered rates by around 30 percentage points since December last year.
"In that respect, we've pre-empted this announcement by the central bank," he said. "We'll have to see what happens. We'll look at the interest rate market and how our competitors are reacting."
"Having said that, further rate drops are never ruled out."
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In what will come as a relief for many Swedish homeowners, Sweden's central bank announced on May 8th that it was cutting the key interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.75 percent – the first cut in eight years.
Sweden's four major banks – Nordea, Swedbank, Handelsbanken and SEB – responded by lowering rates on their variable rate mortgages by the same amount, 0.25 percentage points.
That means that Nordea's new list rate – the maximum rate offered for new mortgages, with no discounts taken into account – will be 5.74 percent from May 10th.
Swedbank will be lowering its list rate by 0.25 percentage points to 5.69 percent, although there's bad news, too: the bank is lowering interest rates for saving accounts by 0.20 percentage points.
READ ALSO:
Handelsbanken's new list rate will be the same as Swedbank's: 5.69 percent.
"We're continuously following these developments and are constantly adapting our offering to remain competitive in the long term," county head of Handelsbanken Stockholm, Mikael Romert, said in a press statement.
Länsförsäkringar is also lowering its rates on variable term mortgages to 5.69 percent, a drop of 0.25 percentage points.
State-owned SBAB is not planning on lowering its rate, although product manager Lars Lindmark pointed out that the bank has lowered rates by around 30 percentage points since December last year.
"In that respect, we've pre-empted this announcement by the central bank," he said. "We'll have to see what happens. We'll look at the interest rate market and how our competitors are reacting."
"Having said that, further rate drops are never ruled out."
READ ALSO:
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