National Australia Bank today cut interest rates on a number of home loans by up to 60 basis points, while ANZ raised some residential loans by 10 basis points.
NAB has cut interest rates on investment interest-only loans, a market that has seen a lot of activity in recent weeks.
Curiously, NAB made cuts by up to 60 basis points on its 'In Arrears' products, which despite what the name might suggest, aren't for people falling behind on their mortgages.
Interest-only home loans can be paid one of two ways - in arrears, or in advance.
'In arrears' means paying the interest off at the end of each month, while 'in advance' payments are made once a year.
Paying in advance could help bring forward tax-deductible interest payments.
The 'In Arrears' home loans to see cuts by 60 basis points were:
- Inv Tailored FIxed IO in arrears 1 year: Now 2.89% p.a. (5.13% p.a. comparison rate*)
- Inv Tailored FIxed IO in arrears 2 years: Now 2.79% p.a. (4.91% p.a. comparison rate*)
- Inv Tailored FIxed IO in arrears 3 years: Now 2.79% p.a. (4.70% p.a. comparison rate*)
NAB also cut interest rates on the same product line fixed for four and five years by 20 basis points.
Meanwhile, ANZ raised rates by 10 basis points on two key residential home loan products, both fixed for two years. They are:
- Breakfree Residential Fixed 2 Years 150k+: Now 2.29% p.a. (4.02% p.a. comparison rate*)
- Residential Fixed 2 Years: Now 2.44% p.a. (4.10% p.a. comparison rate*)
This slight hike on home loans recently is not unique - ME Bank raised rates by up to 30 basis points at the start of May, a day before its redraw controversy broke.
Both ANZ and NAB were contacted for comment but did not respond in time for deadline.
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.
Smart Booster Home Loan
Product Features
- Discount variable for 1 year <=80% LVR
- No ongoing fees
- Unlimited redraw facility
Monthly repayments: $1,476
Advertised
Rate (p.a.)
1.99%
Comparison
Rate (p.a.)
2.47%
Product Features
- Discount variable for 1 year
- No ongoing fees
- Unlimited redraw facility
Base criteria of: a $400,000 loan amount, variable, principal and interest (P&I) owner-occupied home loans with an LVR (loan-to-value) ratio of at least 80%. If products listed have an LVR <80%, they will be clearly identified in the product name along with the specific LVR. Monthly repayments were calculated based on the selected products’ advertised rates, applied to a $400,000 loan with a 30-year loan term.
Reduce, Tic:Toc also cut rates
Challenger brands Reduce Home Loans and Tic:Toc also made a number of home loan rate cuts in the past week.
Some key cuts were:
Reduce
Reduce cut rates on quite a large number of residential loans, including the headline product:
- Low Rider Variable 70% LVR: 15 basis point cut to 2.29% p.a. (2.32% p.a. comparison rate*)
A number of other loans in the same product category with 80% LVR, and also ones paying interest-only, were cut by up to 45 basis points.
Tic:Toc
Tic:Toc in the past week made just one key cut, which was a 15 basis point cut to the Live In Variable home loan paying principal and interest, down to 2.39% p.a. (2.40% p.a. comparison rate*).
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.
- If you click on a product link and you are referred to a Product or Service Provider’s web page, it is highly likely that a commercial relationship exists between that Product or Service Provider and Savings.com.au
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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