ICICI Bank follows SBI & HDFC, cuts housing loan rate to 6.7%

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Mumbai:  ICICI Bank on March 5 slashed interest rate on home loans to 6.70%, at par with market leader SBI, as part of a limited period offer.

The second largest private sector lender said the interest rate offering, which is valid till March 31, is the lowest in a decade.

Over the last week, there have been a slew of similar announcements by lenders on interest rates which were at 16-year-low at the systemic level.

SBI cut its rate first to 6.70% to best rated borrowers, which was followed up quickly by smaller rival Kotak Mahindra Bank that slashed its rate to 6.65% and non-bank leader HDFC also reviewing it down.

“We see resurgence in demand from consumers, who want to buy homes for their own consumption, in the past few months. We believe that this is an opportune time for an individual to buy his/her dream home, considering the prevailing low interest rates,” ICICI Bank’s head for secured assets Ravi Narayanan said.

The new home loan rates are effective from March 5, the bank said, adding borrowers of up to Rs 75 lakh will get credit at 6.70%, while those above that threshold will need to pay 6.75 per cent. In November 2020, the bank had crossed the Rs 2 lakh crore mark in mortgage loan portfolio, becoming the first private sector lender to attain the mark. It had also informed during its latest quarterly results that its mortgage disbursements increased in December quarter over July-September and reached an all-time monthly high in December 2020.