People's Choice releases a sub-2% home loan for first home buyers

Photo by Jakob Cotton on Unsplash

People's Choice Credit Union has introduced a sub-2% home loan, becoming the sixth lender to do so, according to Savings.com.au's market research.

People's Choice is offering first home buyers a one-year-fixed home loan interest rate of 1.99% p.a. (3.91% p.a. comparison rate*).

The 'special offer' is available for a limited time as a home loan package for first home buyers submitting new applications from 21 August, and is "subject to change without notice".

The news comes after Bank First also broke the barrier on Wednesday.

Buying a home or looking to refinance? The table below features home loans with some of the lowest variable interest rates on the market for owner occupiers.

ME Bank yo-yos, Suncorp hikes

ME Bank is seemingly yo-yoing the rates of its fixed home loans with several cuts today.

In May, the same loans were hiked by up to 30 basis points, while on 26 March they were cut by more than 100 basis points as a special 'COVID-19 discount'.

The cuts were to its 'Flexible Fixed' home loans, for fixed periods between one and three years, for owner-occupiers paying principal and interest (P&I), with a maximum LVR of 80%. 

The advertised rate for all three of these home loans stands at 2.34% p.a., representing cuts by between 20 and 40 basis points. The comparison rates are below:

• Fixed 1 Year: 4.15% p.a. comparison rate*
• Fixed 2 Years: 3.98% p.a. comparison rate*
• Fixed 3 Years:  3.82% p.a. comparison rate*

Corresponding 'Member Package' home loans were also cut, which feature up to a 15 basis point discount off the non-package advertised rate. 

ME Bank's general manager of home lending Andrew Bartolo said customers are looking at fixed rates for certainty.

“This offer will help first home buyers achieve their dream of home ownership faster by only requiring a 10% deposit (with LMI), put more money back in their pockets through a lower rate, and give them peace of mind with certainty on exactly what their repayments will be a year or more in advance," he said.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Suncorp raised a few of its home loan interest rates by 20 basis points, including:

• Home Package Plus Investment Fixed 2 Years: Now 2.99% p.a. (3.68% p.a. comparison rate*)
• Home Package Plus Investment Fixed 3 Years: Now 2.99% p.a. (3.66% p.a. comparison rate*)

These home loans are for investors paying P&I, with an LVR between 80% and 90%.

See Also: The $35,000 cost of breaking a fixed home loan

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Disclaimers

The entire market was not considered in selecting the above products. Rather, a cut-down portion of the market has been considered which includes retail products from at least the big four banks, the top 10 customer-owned institutions and Australia’s larger non-banks:

• The big four banks are: ANZ, CBA, NAB and Westpac
• The top 10 customer-owned Institutions are the ten largest mutual banks, credit unions and building societies in Australia, ranked by assets under management in November 2020. They are (in descending order): Credit Union Australia, Newcastle Permanent, Heritage Bank, Peoples’ Choice Credit Union, Teachers Mutual Bank, Greater Bank, IMB Bank, Beyond Bank, Bank Australia and P&N Bank.
• The larger non-bank lenders are those who (in 2020) has more than $9 billion in Australian funded loans and advances. These groups are: Resimac, Pepper, Liberty and Firstmac.

Some providers' products may not be available in all states. To be considered, the product and rate must be clearly published on the product provider's web site.

In the interests of full disclosure, Savings.com.au, Performance Drive and Loans.com.au are part of the Firstmac Group. To read about how Savings.com.au manages potential conflicts of interest, along with how we get paid, please click through onto the web site links.

*Comparison rate is based on a loan of $150,000 over a term of 25 years. Please note the comparison rate only applies to the examples given. Different loan amounts and terms will result in different comparison rates. Costs such as redraw fees and costs savings, such as fee waivers, are not included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan.

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