Major banks favour June rate cut: guide to lowest fixed and variable mortgage rates
Three out of the four major banks expect the RBA to cut the cash rate to 2.75% in June, according to the latest Bloomberg survey of economists.
Economists are unanimous though that there will be no rate cut today with all 28 economists surveyed just before the Easter break agreeing the cash rate will remain at 3% over April.
They are fairly certain of no rate cut in May with 23 out of 28 economists expecting the RBA to hold firm again.
However, chief economists at ANZ (Warren Hogan), NAB (ALAN OSTER) and Westpac (Bill Evans) all expect the RBA to cut the cash rate to 2.75% on June 4.
The Commonwealth Bank’s Michael Blythe expects no more rate cuts over the course of 2013.
In the last few weeks, Westpac lifted its two-year fixed rate back above 5%, signalling that fixed-rates may have bottomed out.
However, a day later, Australia’s biggest mutual lender CUA cut its three-year fixed rate to 5.1% – one of the lowest offerings on the market.
These are the lowest advertised variable and fixed mortgage rates based on listings on mortgage comparison websites ratecity.com.au, Mozo.com.au, infochoice.com.au and homeloanfinder.com.au as of April 2:
Where the headline rate is the same, the lender with the lowest comparison rate gets preference.
Lowest variable rate offerings:
Provider | Loan name | Rate | Comparison rate* |
State Custodians | State Custodians Peak Performance Offset (Refinance Only) | 4.99% | 5.38% |
Easy Street | Honeymoon Home Loan Special | 4.99% | 5.70% |
UBank | UHomeLoan for refinancing | 5.12% | 5.12% |
Lowest one-year fixed-rate offerings
Provider | Loan name | Rate | Comparison rate* |
Quick Direct | One year fixed | 4.79% | 5.46% |
UBank | UHomeLoan for refinance fixed rate one year | 4.83% | 5.34% |
AMP | Affinity Package Residential Fixed 1 yr 100k+
| 4.84% | 5.63% |
Lowest three-year fixed-rate offerings
Provider | Loan name | Rate | Comparison rate* |
ME Bank | Member Package SMHL Standard Home Loan | 4.99% | 5.49% |
Teachers Mutual Bank | Teachers Fixed Option Loan | 4.99% | 5.90% |
AMP | Affinity Package Residential Fixed | 5.04% | 5.55% |
*A comparison rate includes both the interest rate and the fees and charges relating to a loan, combined into a single percentage figure.
For information on refinancing, watch our free webinar The Do's and Don’ts of Refinancing Your Existing Home Loan ... and How to Avoid Unnecessary Hurdles.