It seems like if there's been mortgage news lately, it's been that rates are starting to trend downwards.
InfoChoice's database showed owner occupier variable rates, from January to February, showed only a modest uptick - up just 1 basis point on average.
This is also generally corroborated by RBA data (one month behind), showing the average rate from December to January increased just 3 basis points.
Indeed, this week, if there was a variable movement, it seemed to be mostly down, led by the likes of Bank Australia and Bank of Us.
Fixed rate fluctuations also occurred, par for the course, which we'll get into.
Please note, the rates mentioned below are for new customers only.
Bank Australia variable rate cuts
Australia's fourth-largest customer-owned bank, with more than $12 billion of assets in tow, marginally decreased variable rates across the board.
One rate was cut by 11 basis points, the largest movement, which was the Premium Package with 90% LVR, now down to 6.39% p.a. (6.71% p.a. comparison rate*).
Other rates, including investment loans, were cut by between 3 and 9 basis points.
Bank of Us variable rate cuts
Tasmanian-based Bank of Us, the first bank that cut mortgage rates below 2.00% in mid-2020, cut variable rates by up to 10 basis points this week.
The cuts applied to both owner occupied and investment 'Topline' products with varying LVR requirements.
For example the OO Topline with up to 80% LVR was cut to 6.24% p.a. (6.26% p.a. comparison rate*).
Bank of Us also cut some fixed-rate home loans by up to 50 basis points.
An important note is that Bank of Us largely lends only to Tasmanian residents.
Reduce... increases
Reduce Home Loans bucked the trend by increasing rates by 5 basis points on its Slasher Special Offer products for investors.
For example, the 90% LVR product is now 6.59% p.a. (6.65% p.a. comparison rate*).
Reduce is notably one of only 10 providers in the market to still offer a cashback deal, and is the most generous in market at up to $10,000.
For that, however, borrowers will likely need to take out a fixed rate product.
Ubank upends
Digital bank ubank also increased a few variable-rate home loans this week, also by 5 basis points, with varying LVRs.
For example the Flex Variable P&I product with up to 80% LVR for owner occupiers is now 6.24% p.a. (6.48% p.a. comparison rate*).
A wide range of fixed products were also decreased by up to 65 basis points.
Fixed-rate movements
- Bankwest: Cuts a range of products between 1 and 5 years by up to 40 basis points.
- Northern Inland CU: Cut 3 year fixed products by 15 basis points.
Image by Martin David on Unsplash
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