Weekly home loan report: Hurricane Katrina and its lasting inflationary impact on world and New Zealand financial markets is the key concern presently, against a backdrop of the spring mortgage campaign season getting underway.

Cairns Lockie subsidiary General Finance has expanded the range of no financials loans it offers to include a prime mortgage at regular interest rates in direct competition with fellow lender Sovereign.

ANZ Bank is changing the structure of its commission payments to mortgage brokers from October 1.

Australian mortgage wholesaler Liberty Financial has opted for simplicity, and amalgamated all its previous loan offerings into one product called the Star loan.

Christchurch-based Propertyfinance Securities is promising a decision on its "No Nonsense" loan within four hours, or the client gets $150.

Kiwibank is taking advantage of a convergence in the funding and housing markets to offer a low five-year mortgage rate, the first time fixing for five years is its lowest rate.