Malaysia Home Loans - What's New (November, 2008)

Very soon, they will be teaching kids at school that Earth’s gravity pull is felt not only by objects but also mortgage interest rates. Talks of interest rates going up was only beginning to get going before Lenders went about reducing rates…again. It wasn’t so long ago when BLR+0% was considered “hot”.

November saw quite a bit of interest rate activities, culminating in what in our opinion, are some of the best loans ever introduced. Here are some of our favourites:

[Best BLR-based Loan]
Now, EON Bank, for the 3rd consecutive month offers the lowest BLR-based loan, this time at BLR-2.4% for the entire tenure. Launched on the 13th of November the extremely attractive package comes with a few conditions set out as follows:

- Acceptance must be within 2 DAYS of the Letter of Offer date
- Property Value RM 400K and Above
- Only for a maximum Margin Of Finance of up to 80%
- Option to finance the entry costs with additional 5% (80% + 5%)
- For Refinance, Sub-sale, New acquisition of Under Construction properties with completion status > than 70%
- Flexi Loan comes attached with deposit-linked account with cheque book.
- No account Set up Fee (unlike other similar flexi-loans for e.g., Alliance Bank Save Link, SCB Mortgage One where customer has to pay an account set up fee of RM 200 – 1 time payment)
- Monthly maintenance fee of RM 10 - Insurance is optional


[Best Overall BLR-based Loan]

Whilst there is no doubt that EON’s loan package is a winner in the interest rate stakes, critics may grumble that the RM400,000 min loan amount and the maximum margin of finance of 80% are limiting. Well gripe no more…if good rates at a higher margin is what you need, then Affin Bank surprises this month with its Affin Home Solutions briefly summarized as follows:

Affin Home Solutions (Non-Free Moving Costs)
Loan Amount Yr 1-3 Thereafter
<> RM 1.0M BLR - 2.40% BLR - 2.30%


For Free Moving Cost packages, the offers are as follows:

Loan Amount Yr 1-3 Thereafter
<> RM 1.0M BLR-2.20% BLR-2.10%


With the Margin of Finance set at a maximum of 90%, and the loan tenure stretched to a maximum of 45years up to age 75 (where most banks cap loan tenure up to a maximum of age 70), this is certainly one of the best loan packages available today. And just to make sure that they got your attention, Affin caps the loan’s interest rate to a maximum of 10%.

However, am important note is that to enjoy the full bag of goodies, all Letters Of Offer must be formally accepted within 3 days of issuance.

[Best Hybrid Islamic Home Financing-i: Fixed then Float]

Another “newcomer” to our list is none other than CIMB Islamic. For a full range of fixed then floating ISLAMIC loans, no one does it better for now. Here is a summary of what they offer:

For Completed Properties / Loan Amount RM300K to RM500K (Without MRTA)

a) Fixed Rate for 3 years
NFMC 4.90% (Yr1-3), BFR-2.15% (Thereafter)
FMC 5.10% (Yr1-3), BFR-1.95% (Thereafter)
b) Fixed Rate for 5 years
NFMC 5.40% (Yr1-5), BFR-2.15% (Thereafter)
FMC 5.65% (Yr1-5), BFR-1.95% (Thereafter)
c) Fixed Rate for 10 years
NFMC 6.25% (Yr1-10), BFR-2.15% (Thereafter)
FMC 6.45% (Yr1-10), BFR-1.95% (Thereafter)


For Under Construction Properties / Loan Amount RM300K to RM500K (Without MRTA)

d) Fixed Rate for 3 years
NFMC 5.10% (Yr1-3), BFR-1.95% (Thereafter)
FMC 5.30% (Yr1-3), BFR-1.75% (Thereafter)
e) Fixed Rate for 5 years
NFMC 5.60% (Yr1-5), BFR-1.95% (Thereafter)
FMC 5.80% (Yr1-5), BFR-1.75% (Thereafter)
f) Fixed Rate for 10 years
NFMC 6.45% (Yr1-10), BFR-1.95% (Thereafter)
FMC 6.65% (Yr1-10), BFR-1.75% (Thereafter)


NOTE: After the fixed years, the rate is cheaper by a further 0.1% if the borrower takes MRTA.

Other features of this loan include:
- Option to choose Free Moving Cost (FMC)/ Non-Free Moving Cost Package (NFMC);
- Rate protection with capped ceiling rate at 10.75%;
- No stamp duty for refinancing from conventional loan;
- 20% discount on stamp duty for new purchases;
- For completed and Under Construction properties and for landed & Non-landed.

[Best Fixed Rate Loan]

AIA regains the “lowest fixed rate” throne with the introduction of a few new rates

1) Standard Home Loan Packages
NZMC MOF: 80%-90%
MOF: Below 80% 5.85%
5.75%
ZMC MOF: 80%-90%
MOF: Below 80% 5.99%
5.89%
2) AIA Mortgage Save Packages
NZMC MOF: 80%-90%
MOF: Below 80% 5.70%
5.60%
ZMC MOF: 80%-90%
MOF: Below 80% 5.85%
5.75%


Lending Terms & Conditions for AIA Mortgage Save
- Customer is required to purchase a new AIA Whole Life Non-Par (WLNP) policy to fully cover the loan
- The new AIA policy purchased is to be assigned to the loan and must be kept in force throughout the entire loan duration.

Source: Money3.com.my