The Commonwealth Bank has become the second major lender to lift the interest rates it charges property investors following an intervention by the banking regulator.
The bank will increase its variable rate on investor home loans by 0.27 percentage points to 5.72 per cent, while fixed rate investor loans will also increase between 0.10 percentage points and 0.40 percentage points.
It has also cut fixed mortgage rates for owner-occupied home loans by between 0.10 and 0.30 percentage points.
The move is designed to rein in investor lending growth, following an order from the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority.
APRA last year imposed a so-called "speed-limit" on banks, instructing them to restrict growth in investor lending to 10 per cent a year in response to concerns about strong growth in the sector.
The Commonwealth's head of retail services, Matt Comyn, says the bank has lifted loans to investors by 22 per cent in the past year but it was actively trying to get below the APRA-imposed level.
"Despite making a range of changes to our investor lending policies in the past few months we have witnessed ongoing investor lending growth, and at an industry level, investor lending approvals remain 22 per cent higher than 12 months ago," he said.
ANZ on Thursday became the first bank to increase interest rates in response to APRA, lifting its variable residential investment property loan rate by 0.27 percentage points to 5.65 per cent and lowered fixed rates for owner-occupiers by 0.4 percentage points.
National Australia Bank and Westpac have yet to say whether they'll make a similar move.
The moves come amid continued strong growth in Sydney's property market, where the median house price is now about $1 million, according to a report by Domain.
Meanwhile, APRA earlier this week announced it would force the major banks to hold more capital against their mortgage books.
The change is designed to even the playing field between the big four banks - the Commonwealth, ANZ, Westpac and National Australia Bank - and smaller banks, which already have higher risk weights, and help shore up the financial system against future crises.
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