
HomeStreet Bank is a regional bank headquartered in Seattle, Washington serving residents in Washington, Oregon, California and Hawaii.
They were founded in 1921 by W. Walter Williams who managed to keep the bank in the family through four generations.
HomeStreet suffered major losses during the 2008 financial crisis which eventually required them to raise capital through an IPO in 2012 – ending four generations of control by the Williams family.
Today, HomeStreet Bank offers various financial services to both businesses and individuals.
For the purpose of this review, we will focus on HomeStreet Bank’s fixed rate CDs (certificates of deposit) and variable rate money market accounts.
All of the deposit accounts covered in this review are federally insured by the FDIC up to the applicable limits.
HomeStreet Bank CD Rates + Account Details
There are two variables that may affect the APY (annual percentage yield) that you receive on your CD with HomeStreet Bank. These are 1. Location, and 2. Deposit amount.
Before displaying the rates of their CDs, HomeStreet Bank requires you to select your region (you can do that here).
They have regions broken up into four groups – 1. California, 2. Eastern Washington, 3. Hawaii, and 4. Western Washington/Oregon. We should note that we’ve downloaded rate cards from each region and found the interest rates and APYs to be the same throughout. In more favorable interest rate environments, we suspect this would change.
Their rates are also tiered by deposit amount, but like location, all tiers pay the same APYs currently. We will update this post when their rates change.
HomeStreet Bank offers three types of certificates of deposit. These are:
- Custom and IRA Certificates. Terms ranging from 31 days to 5 years.
- Featured CDs. Oddball terms such as 11 and 22 months and higher APYs.
- Jumbo Certificates. Require minimum $90,000.
Interest is compounded daily and credited monthly on all HomeStreet Bank CDs. We should also note that HomeStreet Bank’s CDs automatically renew and you are provided a standard 10 day grace period in which you may add or withdraw funds penalty free. If nothing is done during this time, the CD will renew with the same terms and the going APY.
If you need your funds prior to your maturity date, HomeStreet Bank may impose a simple interest penalty on the amount withdrawn based on the current interest rate being paid on the account.
Custom and IRA CD Rates
Their Custom and IRA CDs offer 9 terms to choose from ranging from 31 days to 5 years. The minimum deposit requirement is $500.
CD Term | $500 | $2,500 | $5k | $10k | $25k | $240k |
31 days | 0.10% | 0.10% | 0.10% | 0.10% | 0.10% | 0.10% |
3 months | 0.15% | 0.15% | 0.15% | 0.15% | 0.15% | 0.15% |
6 months | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% |
9 months | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% |
12 months | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% |
18 months | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% |
2 year | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% |
3 year | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% |
5 year | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% |
To put the yields shown in HomeStreet Bank’s rate matrix (above) in perspective, the current national average for a 12 month CD and a 5 year CD sit at 0.22% APY and 0.47% APY, respectively.
Featured CD Rates
The Featured CDs offer the most competitive yields, however they’re currently a flat 0.40% APY across all terms and deposit amounts.
CD Term | $500 | $2,500 | $5k | $10k | $25k | $240k |
11 months | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% |
13 months | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% |
15 months | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% |
18 months | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% |
22 months | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% |
3 years | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% |
5 years | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% | 0.40% |
Based on current national averages, HomeStreet Bank’s 11 month CD is quite competitive at nearly twice the national average (0.40% vs 0.22% avg). That said, their 5 year CD comes in slightly under at 0.40% vs a 0.47% average for 60 month terms.
Jumbo Certificate Rates
HomeStreet Bank’s Jumbo CDs come with a minimum deposit requirement of $90,000 and a maximum deposit amount of $240,000. You may hold multiple CDs with HomeStreet, but FDIC coverage applies to just $250,000 per individual or $500,000 on joint accounts.
Jumbo CD Term | APY |
30 days | 0.15% |
60 days | 0.15% |
90 days | 0.15% |
120 days | 0.15% |
180 days | 0.30% |
270 days | 0.30% |
365 days | 0.30% |
HomeStreet Bank only offers Jumbo CDs with short terms at this time. You may want to bookmark this page and check back later. We will update if/when HomeStreet adds longer durations.
HomeStreet Bank Money Market Rates + Account Details
HomeStreet Bank typically offers five different kinds of money market accounts, however two have been discontinued. These accounts feature variable rates that can change at any time without notice. The three available options include:
- Money Market. Standard account with minimum deposit requirement of $1,000.
- Private Banking Money Market. Higher APY available, must contact a branch to open.
- Promotional Plus Money Market. Higher APY available, must open with $10,000 in new money.
Some of the benefits of a money market account with HomeStreet Bank include:
- no charges for paper or electronic statements
- ability to write checks
- access cash with a debit card
- can use as overdraft protection against checking account
- FDIC insured
Money Market
The standard money market account comes with a minimum deposit requirement of $1,000 AND a minimum daily balance requirement of $1,000 to avoid a $5 monthly service fee.
Balance | APY |
$1k – $9,999 | 0.15% |
$10k – $49,999 | 0.15% |
$50k – $99,999 | 0.15% |
$100k – $149,999 | 0.15% |
$150k – $249,999 | 0.15% |
$250k – $499,999 | 0.15% |
$500k + | 0.15% |
As with their CDs, HomeStreet Bank’s basic money market account pays a flat APY across all balance amounts. To put the yields above in perspective, the current national average for a money market account sits at just 0.11% APY and the national average on a savings account is just 0.07% APY.
Private Banking Money Market
More information on Private Banking Money Market accounts are available through a banker at a HomeStreet Bank local branch. Below are the current yields.
Balance | APY |
$1k – $9,999 | 0.10% |
$10k – $49,999 | 0.15% |
$50k – $99,999 | 0.25% |
$100k – $149,999 | 0.35% |
$150k – $249,999 | 0.35% |
$250k – $499,999 | 0.35% |
$500k + | 0.35% |
Yields ascend with higher balances. You can locate a branch here if you’d like to proceed with one of these accounts.
Promotional Plus Money Market
As mentioned the Promotional Plus Money Market account requires a higher minimum deposit amount of $10,000. These funds need to be new money to HomeStreet Bank – or -existing funds from a maturing HomeStreet CD, which can be transferred during the grace period.
Balance | APY |
$10k – $49,999 | 0.15% |
$50k – $99,999 | 0.20% |
$100k – $149,999 | 0.25% |
$150k – $249,999 | 0.25% |
$250k – $499,999 | 0.30% |
$500k + | 0.30% |
Final Thoughts
If you’re in the market for a variable rate money market account, then HomeStreet Bank may be suitable for you. Their rates beat the national average by a respectable margin and pay well on all tiers. That said, be sure you can meet the average daily balances to avoid fees. There are also a handful of online savings accounts and money market accounts still paying up to the 0.50% APY mark on all balances.
If you’re looking for a fixed rate CD, then an 11 – 15 month featured CD from HomeStreet Bank may be a decent option, however, you can also find online CDs or even credit union CDs with equal or slightly better yields.