ICICI Bank has pared the interest rates on floating home loans up to ₹75 lakh to 10.15 per cent from 10.25 per cent for salaried customers, thereby restoring interest rate parity with its larger rival State Bank of India (SBI).
The home loan rate now comes at a mark up of 15 basis points over ICICI Bank’s benchmark “I-Base” of 10 per cent. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
For home loans above ₹75 lakh, India’s largest private lender will continue to charge between 10.50 per cent and 11.25 per cent interest. SBI charges 10.30 per cent interest in this slab. For women borrowers, ICICI Bank had earlier cut the interest rate on home loans up to ₹75 lakh to 10.10 per cent from 10.25 per cent. SBI is currently charging 10.10 per cent interest on home loans for women under the “Her Ghar” scheme.
ICICI Bank has also introduced one- and two-year’s fixed rate home loans. These loans will become floating interest rate loans from the 13th and 25th month onwards.
Under the abovementioned scheme, home loans up to ₹75 lakh will be available at 10.25 per cent for self-employed borrowers.
Further, loans above ₹75 lakh and up to ₹5 crore will be available at 10.50 per cent to 11 per cent.
The private sector bank has launched a renewable fixed rate home loan. These loans will be available at a fixed interest rate at the above-mentioned rates for an initial two years. Thereafter, the interest rate will be fixed at intervals.
According to the bank’s website, the “special interest rate for home loans” mentioned above will be valid for loans sanctioned between May 15 and June 30, 2014.
In FY2014, ICICI Bank’s home loans portfolio grew 23 per cent to ₹70,620 crore. Home loans accounted for 53.5 per cent of the bank’s retail loan portfolio of ₹1.32 lakh crore as at March-end 2014.