Ten bps the most common rate cut
By the end of last week 26 lenders had announced changes to their variable mortgage rates, with about one in three cutting by just ten basis points.According to Canstar data, only four lenders - Bank Australia, Bank of Sydney, Homestar Finance and Virgin Money - matched the reduction in the cash rate and cut their standard variable rates by 25 bps.P&N Bank cut its & Home Loan by 26 bps, six home loan products by 25 bps and another five home loan products by ten bps.One curious move was Bank of Queensland's decision to cut its own variable rate by 15 bps but Virgin Money's (which it owns and funds) by 25 bps.Virgin Money re-launched its home loan product earlier this year, after being out of the market for a couple of years, so BOQ must have seen an opportunity to give the brand some momentum.Another strange move was Westpac's decision to cut the Westpac and St George rates by 14 bps but the BankSA and Bank of Melbourne rates by 13 bps. That's an extremely subtle bit of brand positioning.The lenders who could only find ten bps to pass on to borrowers include Bankwest, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, IMB, ME, National Australia Bank, Newcastle Permanent, Rams and Suncorp Bank.Bendigo and Adelaide bank managing director Mike Hirst said in a media release: "The fact is, with interest rates at record lows banks are now unable to reduce all deposit product rates. The price changes we have made to loans and deposits, following the two official cash rate reductions this year aims to deliver a neutral impact on our margin."In its quarterly statement of monetary policy, issued on Friday, the Reserve Bank said the May cash rate reduction of 25 basis points "was passed through to most advertised housing lending rates.""The average outstanding housing interest rate declined by around 20 basis points and will decrease further following the August 2016 cash rate reduction and as fixed rate loans roll over to lower interest rates," the RBA said.