CIMB Thai Bank (CIMBT) has raised its teaser rate for new home loans and mortgage refinancing by 0.1-0.15 percentage points, ending the bank's low introductory rate of below 3%.

The home loan refinancing rate is a little bit higher than that of new mortgages, said Adisorn Sermchaiwong, the bank's senior executive vice-president.

"A rate below 3% no longer exists for general customers, but could be offered in very special cases where the applicant's quality is excellent," he said.

The small bank spearheaded passing on the policy rate hike last December by lifting its minimum retail rate (MRR) by 0.125 percentage points, effective from Feb 1, 2019.

Before the latest teaser rate hike for mortgages, CIMBT was among commercial lenders offering the lowest rate.

Whether foreign demand for Thai property will continue warrants monitoring, Mr Adisorn said. Inventory in the local real estate market could be affected if overseas customers lose their appetite, he said.

CIMBT will be unaffected if foreign demand for Thai real estate scales back because the bank does not extend home loans to this segment, Mr Adisorn said.

For Thai borrowers connected to foreigners such as couples, he said the bank has tightened its loan scrutiny process and will concentrate on debt-servicing ability, with income of the foreign spouse used as complementary data.

The Bank of Thailand recently voiced concerns about weaker property demand, particularly for condominiums, from foreigners amid a global economic slowdown.

Commenting on the central bank's more stringent regulations on mortgages, which will come into force on April 1, Mr Adisorn said the bank does not detect any signs of accelerating or delaying ownership transfer activities, as CIMBT's target group is high-income earners with an average home price of 3 million baht.

Moreover, the number of high-income earners who are seeking second and subsequent mortgages from the bank is minimal, while those who buy homes priced from 10 million baht have the ability to make high down payments.

Starting from April 1, homebuyers must make a minimum down payment for third and subsequent mortgages of 30% of the home price, but the minimum requirement for a second housing loan is 10-20%, depending on how long a borrower has made payments on the first one.

For those who seek a second mortgage to fund the purchase of a home priced 10 million baht or higher, a minimum 20% down payment is required.