2021 was an interesting year for home loan interest rates, with many of them heading only in one direction - up.
2020 saw many lenders, particularly the major banks, cut fixed interest rates on home loans to the lowest ever levels, while in 2021, these home loan rates slowly made their way back up.
The big four banks in CommBank, Westpac, NAB and ANZ were some of the first to cut below the 2.00% threshold following the Reserve Bank's November 2020 historic rate cut.
Now the majors nary offer a home loan rate under this threshold.
How much have home loan rates increased in the past year?
Savings.com.au used the trusty screen scraping website Wayback Machine for a look at lenders' home loan rate pages from a year ago compared to now.
Many of the big four banks' largest rate increases applied to owner occupied home loans with fixed rates between two and five years.
CommBank rate increases
CBA's four year fixed rate paying principal & interest (P&I) for owner occupiers compared to a year ago is now 135 basis points higher.
It is now 3.49% p.a. (4.34% p.a. comparison rate*).
Other fixed interest rates are now between 35 and 60 basis points higher.
The standard variable rate remains unchanged at 4.55% p.a. (4.70% p.a. comparison rate*).
On a $400,000 home loan over 30 years, a 135 basis point increase in this instance means $287 per month more in interest paid.
Westpac rate increases
Westpac went in much the same direction.
In January last year, the four-year fixed rate owner occupied home loan paying P&I up to 70% LVR was 130 basis points lower than it is now.
It is now 3.39% p.a. (4.25% p.a. comparison rate*).
Other fixed terms across owner occupier loans were increased by between 35 and 120 basis points.
The standard variable rate - Westpac calls it a reference rate - remains unchanged at 4.58% p.a. (4.72% p.a. comparison rate*).
On a $400,000 home loan over 30 years, a 130 basis point increase in this instance means $275 per month more in interest paid.
NAB rate increases
There's a pattern emerging - four year fixed rates bore the brunt of increases.
NAB's owner occupied Tailored 4 Year Fixed home loan paying P&I is now 126 basis points higher than it was a year ago.
It's now 3.34% p.a. (4.13% p.a. comparison rate*).
Other fixed rates were increased by between 25 and 95 basis points.
NAB's 'base variable rate' was tinkered ever so slightly - the comparison rate is up 4 basis points, and is now 3.45% p.a. (3.49% p.a. comparison rate*).
This is indicative of slightly higher fees.
On a $400,000 home loan over 30 years, a 126 basis point increase in this instance means $266 per month more in interest paid.
ANZ rate increases
Much of ANZ's website data on interest rates from a year ago is unavailable on the Wayback Machine.
Many instances say 'No data found'. Cheeky.
Other banks and lenders
Comparing how your lender or bank fares compared to a year ago is simple - find the webpage of all of its home loan rates, and copy/paste it into the Wayback Machine URL finder.
Why the increase in home loan rates?
Through 2021 Savings.com.au covered the various reasons as to why banks and lenders are increasing their home loan rates - particularly on fixed terms:
- The end of the Term Funding Facility and a return to 'normal' wholesale funding markets
- APRA increasing its serviceability buffer
- The Reserve Bank tapering bond purchases i.e. quantitative easing
- Speculation of an earlier-than-expected cash rate rise
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Buying a home or looking to refinance? The table below features home loans with some of the lowest interest rates on the market for owner occupiers.
Lender | |||||||||||||
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| Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
| FEATUREDUNLIMITED REDRAWSSPECIAL OFFER | Smart Booster Home Loan Discounted Variable - 2yr (LVR < 80%)
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Smart Booster Home Loan Discounted Variable - 2yr (LVR < 80%)
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| Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
| FEATURED100% FULL OFFSET ACCOUNTNO APPLICATION FEE OR ONGOING FEES | Low Rate Home Loan - Prime (Principal and Interest) (Owner Occupied) (LVR < 60%)
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Low Rate Home Loan - Prime (Principal and Interest) (Owner Occupied) (LVR < 60%)
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| Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
| NSW/VIC/SA METRO & INNER REGIONAL AREAS | Variable Home Loan (Principal and Interest)
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Variable Home Loan (Principal and Interest)
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| Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
| REFINANCE ONLY | Variable Rate Home Loan – Refinance Only
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Variable Rate Home Loan – Refinance Only
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| Variable | More details | ||||||||||||
| NO ONGOING FEESFREE REDRAW FACILITY | Live-in Variable Loan (Principal and Interest) (LVR < 90%)
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Live-in Variable Loan (Principal and Interest) (LVR < 90%)
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- Fast turnaround times, can meet 30-day settlement
- For purchase and refinance, min 20% deposit
- No ongoing or monthly fees, add offset for 0.10%
Base criteria of: a $400,000 loan amount, variable, fixed, principal and interest (P&I) home loans with an LVR (loan-to-value) ratio of at least 80%. However, the ‘Compare Home Loans’ table allows for calculations to be made on variables as selected and input by the user. All products will list the LVR with the product and rate which are clearly published on the Product Provider’s web site. Monthly repayments, once the base criteria are altered by the user, will be based on the selected products’ advertised rates and determined by the loan amount, repayment type, loan term and LVR as input by the user/you. *The Comparison rate is based on a $150,000 loan over 25 years. Warning: this comparison rate is true only for this example and may not include all fees and charges. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts might result in a different comparison rate. Rates correct as of June 25, 2022. View disclaimer.
Photo by Coen van de Broek on Unsplash
