As lenders adjust their investment mortgage rates to abide by the regulator's lending rules, investors can expect bigger differences between the rates on offer.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia said this month that the bank's decision to lift interest rates on interest-only investor loans by 0.12 per cent had been caused by the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority's demand for investor lending growth to stay below 10 per cent.
Canstar executive manager of financial services Steve Mickenbercker said the gap between the most expensive and cheapest investment home loans offered by the big four banks, at 0.16 of a percentage point, though not unprecedented, was unusually large.
"I think it is fair to say that the two biggest home loan lenders in the country are using the pricing lever to slow growth of investment loans in their book," said Mr Mickenbercker. "The last thing the banks want is to end up at the 10 per cent limit in 10 months and not even be able to help their existing customers. A slowdown is better than a full stop."
