January is traditionally a quieter time for financial markets, but two mortgage lenders have tweaked their home loan rates during the week.
One lender has dropped its first home buyers and residential fixed interest home loan rates while the other has increased its basic and variable and flexible home loan rates.
The changes come ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s first meeting for 2024, scheduled over two days on 5-6 February.
Earlier this week, the National Australia Bank fell into line with the other three banking majors in forecasting there would be no rise in the cash rate in February.
December’s job figures also showed a stabilising in the unemployment rate at 3.9%, seasonally adjusted.
It’s worth noting the number of employed people fell by a significant 65,100 month-on-month although the Australian Bureau of Statistics said this followed higher than usual growth in October and November.
Further dousing the prospect of a February cash rate rise was this week’s release of the Westpac-Melbourne Institute monthly Consumer Sentiment Index for January.
It recorded a 1.3% drop in consumer sentiment, the most pessimistic start to a new year since the deep recession of the 1990s.
Now, let’s check the lenders making home loan interest rate changes this week, starting with the falling interest rates:
Beyond Bank lowers fixed rates for owner occupiers, investors and first home buyers
Mutual bank Beyond Bank has got the ball rolling with forecast interest rate cuts during 2024.
The bank has cut its First Home Buyers Fixed rates for building and home loans as well as its Residential Fixed loans. Here are the details:
First home buyers
- First Home Buyers Fixed 1 year – Building Loans <95% LVR: 10 basis point decrease to 6.79% p.a. (8.02% p.a. comparison rate*)
- First Home Buyers Fixed 1 year – Home Loans <95% LVR: 10 basis point decrease to 6.59% p.a. (8.00% p.a. comparison rate*)
Residential fixed rate loans
- Total Home Loan Residential Fixed 1 year, 4 years, 5 years ≤80% LVR: 10 basis point decrease to 6.59% p.a. (8.00% p.a. comparison rate* - 1 year) (7.68% p.a. comparison rate* - 4 years) (7.59% p.a. comparison rate* – 5 years)
- Total Home Loan Residential Fixed 2 years and 3 years ≤80% LVR: 20 basis point decrease to 6.49% p.a. (7.86% p.a. comparison rate* - 2 years) (7.75% p.a. comparison rate* - 3 years)
- Total Home Loan Residential Fixed 1 year, 4 years, 5 years >80% LVR: 10 basis point decrease to 6.79% p.a. (8.02% p.a. comparison rate* - 1 year) (7.75% p.a. comparison rate* - 4 years) (7.68% p.a. comparison rate – 5 years)
- Total Home Loan Residential Fixed 2 years, 3 years >80% LVR: 20 basis point decrease to 6.69% p.a. (7.90% p.a. comparison rate* - 2 years) (7.81% p.a. comparison rate* - 3 years)
Beyond Bank’s Home Loan Investment Fixed Loans have also fallen between 10 and 20 basis points this week.
A standard one-year fixed rate for an investment mortgage is down 10 basis points to 7.39% p.a. (8.86% p.a. comparison rate*).
The fixed rate for two and three-year investment mortgages was cut by 20 basis points to 7.29% p.a. (8.68% p.a. comparison rate* - 2 year) (8.52% p.a. comparison rate* - 3 year).
ME Bank ups basic and flexible home loan interest rates by 10 basis points
ME Bank has hiked the interest rates on its Basic variable rate home loan and eight of its Member Package Flexible principal and interest home loans.
ME Bank’s Basic Home Loan Owner Occupier features a fee-free cash redraw and no annual or monthly fees.
Its Flexible Member Package loans have an annual fee of $395 and incorporate an offset account. Here are the changes:
- Basic Home Loan Owner Occupier, P&I <80% LVR 150k+: 10 basis point increase to 6.17% p.a. (6.19% p.a. comparison rate*)
- Member Package Flexible Home Loan, P&I <50-60% LVR 400k+: 10 basis point increase to 6.19% p.a. (6.58% p.a. comparison rate*)
- Member Package Flexible Home Loan, P&I 60-80% LVR 400k+: 10 basis point increase to 6.24% p.a. (6.63% p.a. comparison rate*)
ME Bank's Member Package loans include a waiver of the $200 the valuation fee and any additional fees for so-called top-ups ($250) that provide the borrower with access to the equity in their home.
Other movers
- Summerland Bank cuts fixed rates by up to 20bps
- Auswide Bank varies fixed rates by up to 40bps
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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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