The banks make their moves following RBA cut: Michelle Hutchison
GUEST OBSERVATION
Over one-quarter, or 26%, of lenders have now made interest rate cut announcements, including all four major banks, according to finder.com.au.
However, just one of the 30 lenders has passed on the rate cuts to existing and new customers so far, which was BankVic with an effective date of 9 February, 2015. Loans.com.au was first to drop its rate for existing customers with its rate-linked home loan while cuts for other borrowers will take effect on 23 February, 2015.
So most borrowers won't receive a rate reprieve until 22 February on average, which means it will be in next month's statement.
The latest to make a rate cut announcement was Aussie, which followed the pack and will drop its variable home loan rates by 0.25 percentage points, effective February 23, 2015.
| Lender | Rate cut | Effective date |
 | -0.25% | 23 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 12 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 23 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 20 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 24 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 20 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 9 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 20 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 27 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 20 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 20 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 24 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 20 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 20 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 20 February 2015 |
 | -0.50% | 10 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 4 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 23 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 20 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 20 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 23 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 6 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 24 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 20 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 20 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 27 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 27 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 25 February 2015 |
 | -0.28% | 20 February 2015 |
 | -0.25% | 24 February 2015 |
Source: Finder.com.au, ranked alphabetically. Dates may vary for some customers.
*Some loan changes may be effective from 15/3/15.
With all lenders so far passing on at least the full 0.25 percentage point rate cut, we estimate that by next month there will be 158 variable rate home loans under 1.60%, out of almost 1,400 home loans monitored by Finder.com.au.
These lenders that will offer introductory or ongoing variable home loan rates under 4.6% include CBA, Loans.com.au, HSBC, UBank, Heritage Bank, Yellow Brick Road, CUA, BankVic, Bankwest, IMB, Aussie, Macquarie Bank, Bank of Sydney, AMP, Citibank, ING Direct and more.
It's a great time for borrowers to find out what rate they will be on once the rate cuts come into effect and compare it to other home loans. Variable rate borrowers shouldn't accept an interest rate over 5% next month and should renegotiate with their lender or switch to a cheaper deal.
For instance, if you have the average variable home loan rate of 5.5% and it falls to 5.10%, switching to 4.60% for a $300,000 home loan could save you $91 per month or over $32,000 over 30 years.
This money is up for grabs and it's up to borrowers to jump online, talk to their lender or switch home loans and take the cash on offer.
Click here to view a table of the lenders that have so far announced rate cuts and we will be updating this page as we hear more announcements.
Michelle Hutchison is spokesperson for comparison website finder.com.au.