1 / 8Mortgage lender HDFC Ltd has hiked its home loan rates by 25 basis points (bps) effective March 1, the company said in a statement on Tuesday.2 / 8Meanwhile, Punjab National Bank (PNB) and Kolkata-headquartered Bandhan Bank, too, have decided to hike their marginal cost of funds-based lending rate (MCLR).3 / 8While PNB has raised its MCLR by 10 bps, with effect from March 1, and accordingly the overnight to three-year MCLR will now range between 8 per cent and 8.8 per cent, Bandhan Bank’s hike in MCLR hike will be effective from February 28. Its overnight to three-year MCLR is now from 6.71–10.96 per cent.4 / 8Other major banks such as State Bank of India (SBI), Axis Bank, and Bank of Baroda (BoB) have also raised their MCLR in the aftermath of the monetary policy committee (MPC) raising the benchmark repo rate by 25 bps to 6.5 per cent.5 / 8With this rate hike, HDFC Ltd has now passed on the entire rate hike by the six-member MPC of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to borrowers. The MPC has hiked policy rate by 250 basis points since May 2022, and so has HDFC Ltd.6 / 8Now, home loan rates for the mortgage lender start from 8.7 per cent for borrowers with a credit score of 760 and above. However, it is a limited period festival season offer, which is valid until March 31, 2023. If the offer is withdrawn subsequently, then home loan rates for the lender will start from 9.2 per cent.7 / 8In comparison to the festival season rates offered by HDFC Ltd, the country’s largest lender SBI, with the largest home loan book, is offering a special rate of 8.85 per cent to its home loan borrowers with 800 and above credit score until March 31. But, if the special rate is withdrawn after March 31, then effective rates for borrowers with a credit score of 800 and above would be 9.15 per cent.8 / 8ICICI Bank is offering a rate of 9 per cent to borrowers with a credit score of 800 and above as its festival offer pricing, until February 28. For BoB, the home loan rates range between 8.9 per cent and 10.5 per cent, depending on the credit score of the borrower. Going by the limited period festival season offering, HDFC Ltd is seen to be offering one of the lowest rates on home loans in the market. This was the sixth consecutive rate hike undertaken by the rate-setting body to keep headline inflation within tolerable limits.