Home loans under 2% - May 2022

Despite home loan interest rates generally trending up and the Reserve Bank cash rate increasing, there are still a number of home loans under 2%.

When the Reserve Bank's cash rate hit a historic low of 0.10% in November 2020, many banks and lenders responded by slashing home loan rates to their lowest ever. The major banks were some of the first responders, sharply decreasing rates particularly on three and four-year fixed home loans. Smaller lenders also cut sharply.

In Savings.com.au's market research there were at one stage more than 50 lenders with a home loan under 2%, and the lowest advertised rate seen was 1.59% p.a.

However, funding costs to banks and lenders are increasing - and so are home loan rates. The Reserve Bank increasing the cash rate, starting in May 2022, also pushed a lot of home loan rates up.

Since a lot of lenders increased rates effective mid-May 2022, the selection pool of home loans starting with a 1 is very tight, so what's a borrower to do? Luckily there are still a handful of lenders offering competitive home loan deals.

• Owner Occupier Home Loans Under 2%
• Home Loans Under 2% for Small Deposits
• Investor Home Loans Under 2%
• Why Does the Comparison Rate Matter?
• Full List of Lenders

Compare home loans under 2%

There are quite a few lenders offering home loans under the 2% threshold, including larger banks, challenger banks, non-bank lenders, and customer-owned banks. These home loans are usually available across fixed or variable terms with a variety of loan-to-value ratios (LVRs). Owner occupiers get the lion's share of home loan rates starting with a 1, however there are a handful for investors.

Be sure to also compare features of the home loan, including whether it comes with an offset account or redraw facility, and if it's a packaged home loan. Also note the varying conditions between each product as well as the different comparison rates. This will be indicative of the extra fees you have to pay, such as a loan establishment fee, monthly or yearly account keeping fees and so on.

The pendulum is swinging back to variable home loans, clawing back market share where at one stage nearly half of all new home loans were fixed. Variable home loans offer flexibility, often with the ability to pay unlimited extra amounts into the home loan, while also coming with extra features such as offset accounts. That said, there are still a handful of fixed home loans under 2% for those who prefer repayment certainty.

Home Loans Under 2% for Small Deposits

Many of the home loans with the lowest advertised rates are generally for borrowers with 20% or greater deposits. If you have a smaller deposit, say 10% (i.e. 90% LVR) your options could be limited. However, there are a handful of lenders available - with some even offering home loans under 2% with as little as 5% deposit - as seen below.

Investor home loans under 2%

As it stands, there are very few lenders catering towards the investment space with advertised rates under 2% p.a. Most tend to hover around the low-2% range. Below is a selection of some of the most competitive home loans in the investment space.

Why does the comparison rate matter?

It’s all well and good to have a home loan with an advertised rate of less than 2.00% p.a. However, arguably the more important figure to look at is the comparison rate. While the advertised rate determines your base monthly repayment, it doesn’t take into account a few other things, which is where the comparison rate steps in.

For fixed loans, comparison rates also take into account revert rates, which explains why many fixed-rate and introductory-rate loans tend to have a much higher comparison rate relative to the advertised rate.

The comparison rate also accounts for yearly fees, monthly fees, package fees, settlement fees, exit fees and a myriad of other fees, such as for offset accounts and so on. The comparison rate, in Australia, is also based on a $150,000 loan for a 25-year term, in many circumstances. By some measurements the median house price in Australia's capital cities has surpassed $1 million, so this figure might not mean much to you.

Lenders with home loans under 2%

Below is a list of lenders that offer or have previously offered home loans with advertised rates below the 2% mark.

ANZ

CommBank

Westpac

NAB

86 400

Adelaide Bank

AMP Bank

Aussie

Bank Australia

Bank First

Bank of Melbourne

Bank of Queensland (BOQ)

BankSA

Bankwest

BankVic

BCU

Bendigo Bank

Citi

Credit Union SA

Great Southern Bank (formerly CUA)

Endeavour Mutual

Freedom Lend

G&C Mutual

Greater Bank

Homeloans.com.au 

Homestar Finance

HSBC

Hume Bank

Illawarra Credit Union

IMB Bank

ING

LCU (Laboratories Credit Union)

loans.com.au

ME Bank

Mortgage House

MOVE Bank

Nano

Newcastle Permanent

Northern Inland Credit Union

P&N Bank

Pacific Mortgage Group

People's Choice Credit Union

QBANK

Queensland Country Bank

RACQ Bank

RAMS

Reduce Home Loans

St.George Bank

South West Slopes Credit Union

Suncorp Bank

Sydney Mutual

Teachers Mutual Bank

Tic:Toc

UBank

Virgin Money

WLTH

Yard

First published 26 August 2020, last updated 19 May 2022.

Photo by Jonny_Joka on Pixabay