Mumbai: Despite extending the tenor of its teaser loan scheme till the end of April, State Bank of India has raised home loan rates. The bank had two home loan schemes till 31st March namely The Easy Home Loan (up to Rs 50 lakh) and Advantage Home Loan (above Rs 50 lakh). Talking to Rupee Times, SBI Spokesperson said, "From April 1, both the schemes have been merged and extended for a month. The rates applicable for new loans sourced from April 1 till April 30 are eight percent for the first year, nine percent for the second and third years and floating rate at 1.75 percent below SBAR (SBI's equivalent of prime lending rate, or PLR) thereafter." This clarifies that the home loan rates for the second and third years have gone up by 50 basis points. Earlier the rate was 8.5 percent which is nine percent now. Fourth year onwards, the current structure would attract interest at 10 percent per annum. When asked about the reason on raising home loan rates, Spokesperson said about the increased cost of funds from April 1 stemming from the new methodology for paying interest in savings bank accounts on daily balances.