RAMS joins St George and Westpac by cutting fixed rates

Mortgage franchise RAMS has cut its suite of fixed-rate mortgage products, joining parent bank Westpac and fellow subsidiary St.George to announce fixed-rate cuts following last week's RBA cash rate cut.

RAMS has cut its one-year fixed rate by 36 basis points to 5.39% and reduced two-, three-, four- and five-year fixed rates by 10 basis points, with the changes taking effect today.

The RAMS three-year fixed rate now stands at 5.39%, matching the lowest three-year fixed rate offering on Ratecity.com.au – 5.39% from ME Bank.

Greater Building Society offers the lowest one-year fixed rate at 5.29%, according to Ratecity.com.au

A recent RAMS survey found that around two-thirds of first-home buyers intend to take out a fixed interest rate (22%) or split home loan (43%) in the next 12 months.

Earlier this month ME Bank recorded a surge in fixed-rate mortgage applications, which now account for 45% by value of all new applications, up from 14% earlier in the year.

“Fixing your interest rate could be a smart option, allowing customers to lock in the certainty of monthly repayments,” explained RAMS chief executive Melos Sulicich.

“Another option to consider is splitting your home loan between fixed and variable interest rates to make the best of both worlds."

Westpac will also cut its packaged fixed rates from today.

The bank’s one year packaged fixed rate will reduce by 20 basis points to 5.49%, while its three-year packaged fixed rate will fall from 15 basis points to 5.39%.

St George, also a subsidiary of Westpac, cut its fixed-rate mortgage products under its Advantage Package on October 5

It offers a one-year, two-year and three-year fixed rate at 5.39% per annum.

Just before the RBA cash rate decision CUA cut its two- and three-year fixed rate home loan products by 23 basis points to 5.5%.

RAMS will offer a standard variable home loan rate of 6.55% p.a effective from Friday, October 12 – below that of the major banks.