Westpac courts first home buyers with 4.84% variable rate

Westpac has cut the introductory variable interest rate for its Flexi First Option Home Loan product by 49 percentage points.

Customers opening a new Flexi First Option Home Loan with conditional approval by 3 October will have a 4.84% per annum interest rate for the first two years of their loan. The interest rate converts back to 5.33% after the two year period (comparison rate 5.38%).

Westpac has offered an ongoing discount on its Flexi First Home Loan product since April 2013, with a 0.21% per year rate cut bringing the variable rate to 5.12%. Borrowers cannot take advantage of both discounts at the same time.

Westpac also removed its $600 Home Loan Establishment Fee on all new home loans. According to The Adviser, Westpac brokers were told the discounts would “position Westpac competitively in the market as the bank to assist your first home buyers with their home loan and other financial needs”.

The bank has applied special interest rate offers to a variety of its other variable products.