Mumbai, Oct 7 (IANS): With over 20 financial institutions cutting their interest rates following the RBI reducing the repo rate by 50 basis points to 6.75 percent, housing finance company DHFL, on Wednesday announced a reduction in its retail prime lending rate by 20 basis points to 9.65 percent.

Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL) also announced a festive season offer whereby it will be providing a promotional rate of 9.55 percent to its new customers for loans upto Rs. 25 lakh.

This offer is valid upto December 31, 2015.

"We believe that owning a home especially in this season is a deep desire within our customer segment," chairman and managing director Kapil Wadhawan said in a statement.

The firm largely caters to the low and middle income segment in the Tier II, Tier III towns, with an average loan ticket size of below Rs.15 lakh. The low and middle income segment customers, which comprises majority of the total home loan book size, would stand to benefit the most, with the fresh rate cut and the festive season offer.

The company registered strong performance in the first quarter of the current fiscal year - the loan book portfolio increased by 26 percent to Rs.538 billion as against Rs.428 billion for the corresponding quarter in the previous fiscal. As on June 30, its assets under management stood at Rs.600 billion.