It appears the smaller players in Australia’s lending market are set to follow in the footsteps of the major banks by increasing their home loan interest rates.

After ANZ became the last of the big four to up their home loan rates for investors and owner occupiers on Friday, it has been revealed that two non-major lenders, Macquarie Bank and St George, have followed suit.

According to Your Investment Property Magazine’s sister publication Australian Broker, Macquarie Bank will hike investor and owner-occupied loans by 0.2%.

Effective from 20 November, investors will face a standard variable rate of 5.97%, while owner-occupiers will face a standard variable rate of 5.7%.

According to correspondence from Macquarie Bank obtained by Australian Broker, the increase is “in response to market conditions.”

St George’s increase will also come into effect from 20 November; however, it is a smaller 0.15% increase.

Owner-occupier customers with St George will see their standard variable rate increase to 5.69%, while investors will see their standard variable rate rise to 5.94%

Communication again obtained by Australian Broker claims the increases will help St George “partially offset the cost of fulfilling changed regulatory requirements that will increase the amount of capital that needs to be held against mortgages.”