Macquarie fixed-rate cuts
Macquarie Bank left variable rates untouched but applied cuts to a wide swathe of fixed rates.
Perhaps the highlight was the owner occupier 2-year fixed rate at up to 70% LVR, which is now 5.59% p.a. (6.06% p.a. comparison rate*).
This represents a 20 basis point cut and adds to the cuts from two weeks ago.
Almost every other fixed rate available was cut by 10 to 20 basis points.
Bankwest takes the top off some fixed products
CBA-owned Bankwest made wide-ranging cuts to its 'Complete' line of fixed-rate home loans by up to 50 basis points.
Perhaps the most notable was the 2-year fixed rate for owner occupiers at 80% LVR, which was cut by 50bps to 5.89% p.a. (7.14% p.a. comparison rate*).
The Complete home loan comes with up to nine offset accounts, and a credit card.
ING cuts rates on variable products
While fixed-rate cuts are nice and all, the real meat and potatoes is in variable-rate products; not many Aussies (less than 3% in any given month) like fixed rates, as the data shows.
The biggest scalp this week to cut variable rates was ING.
A couple of 'Orange Advantage' and 'Simplifier' products were cut for owner occupiers by 5 basis points.
The difference is that the former comes with an offset account.
For owner occupiers with up to 90% the rates are:
- Orange Advantage P&I: 6.34% p.a. (6.62% p.a. comparison rate*)
- Simplifier P&I: 6.34% p.a. (6.37% p.a. comparison rate*)
Readers will note the advertised the rates are the same; the offset account on the Orange Advantage attracts a $299 annual fee, which is why the comparison rate is higher.
Variable movers
- ME Bank slashes rates for owner occupiers and investors by up to 111 basis points
- Teachers Mutual Bank and subsidiaries reduce rates by up to 20 basis points
- UBank cuts variable rates by 5-10 basis points
Other movers
- Heritage Bank and People's Choice reduce fixed rates by 10 basis points
- Greater Bank cuts 2-year rates by 10 basis points
Keep in mind these rates are for new customers only.
Photo by Nikolas Cannon on Unsplash
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