Leading bankers are suggesting that interest rates on home loans are likely to come down this year. This should be welcome news indeed to millions of borrowers who have seen interest rates go up significantly in the last two years. First Deepak Parekh of HDFC said last week that he expected interest rates to soften by 25-50 basis points in the first quarter. Now KV Kamath of ICICI Bank has said that he expects to see home loan rates cut in the first quarter of the fiscal year starting April. ICICI Bank is also reportedly considering risk-based pricing where more creditworthy consumers would get lower interest rates. However this would require proper functioning of credit bureaus to assess the risk. In addition to festival offers by banks on new home loans, some lenders are taking down interest rates a notch. SBI offers floating rates on home loans at 10.5% as against the previous rate at 11.25% for loans up to Rs 20 lakh. For loans above Rs 20 lakh, the bank is charging a higher rate at 10.75%. These rates are applicable up to December 31, the bank said in a statement. According to research by website Apnaloan.com, as on November 07, floating interest rates were 9.5%-10.5% at Punjab National Bank, 9.75% at Indian Bank, and 10.5%--11.25% at HDFC Bank.