These new products will form the basis of Athena’s home loan offerings, with previous variable offerings now grandfathered and unavailable to Aussie borrowers.
The first of the offerings is Straight Up, designed as a standard home loan offering no fees, a 0.05% discount depending on loan-to-value ratio (LVR), and the ability to redraw against your home loan balance.
Previously, Athena’s singular standard variable rate home loan also offered an offset account, however this feature is not available for new Straight Up home loans.
Offset accounts are only available with Athena’s Power Up home loan, offered as 100% offset accounts.
Split home loans are also only available through Athena’s Power Up home loan, offering borrowers the ability to have up to 10 split loans per property.
Like Straight Up, Power Up home loans will be fee free, offering a 0.05% discount depending on the borrower's LVR.
Speaking to Savings.com.au, Athena CEO Nathan Walsh said the launch of two home loans will provide customers with more choices.
“Both products come with all the Athena goodness of being fee-free, no loyalty tax and no waiting with our fast approval process,” Mr Walsh said.
“The rewards are now even greater, with additional rewards as consumers drop below a 50% LVR tier.”
These rewards for borrowers with an LVR of 50% or lower mean they can expect to receive an interest rate some 15 basis points (0.15%) lower than a borrower with an LVR of between 70-80%.
Interest rates rises, declining household wealth puts pause on new borrowings
The new home loan offerings from Athena come at a time when the number of mortgage applications continue to decline.
Data from Experian revealed in the second quarter of 2022, the number of mortgage applications dropped by more than 10% compared to the same period last year.
Further, wealth per capita fell 2.2% or $12,050 to $545,532 in the September 2022 quarter according to ABS data released Thursday.
Other digital lenders such as Nano have previously suspended new home loan applications amid soaring funding costs.
Speaking earlier this year to Savings.com.au, one respected lending executive said new fintech lenders have struggled recently simply due to unfortunate timing.
“Central banks have been actively reducing liquidity in the market through aggressive interest rate hikes,” they said.
“This has placed pressure on both the availability of funding and the cost of that funding.
“Will we see more non-banks cease originations? That really depends on how long it takes for central banks to arrive at peak interest rates and how much damage is done to the economy in the process of bringing inflation under control."
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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 | Home Loan | Interest Rate | Comparison Rate* | Monthly Repayment | Repayment type | Rate Type | Offset | Redraw | Ongoing Fees | Upfront Fees | Max LVR | Lump Sum Repayment | Additional Repayments | Split Loan Option | Tags | Features | Link | Compare | Promoted Product | Disclosure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6.04% p.a. | 6.06% p.a. | $3,011 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $530 | 90% | 4.6 Star Customer Ratings |
| Promoted | Disclosure | |||||||||
5.99% p.a. | 5.90% p.a. | $2,995 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $0 | 80% | Apply in minutes |
| Promoted | Disclosure | |||||||||
6.09% p.a. | 6.11% p.a. | $3,027 | Principal & Interest | Variable | $0 | $250 | 60% |
| Promoted | Disclosure | ||||||||||
5.69% p.a. | 6.16% p.a. | $2,899 | Principal & Interest | Fixed | $0 | $530 | 90% |
| Promoted | Disclosure |
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