It’s been a tough time for interest rates. Back in July, there was the change of term funding period, then the lockdowns, then the fixed rate frenzy as borrowers sought to lock in that 2021 rate for the years to come.
Just when things started coming back together, APRA lending regulations changed and brokers had, again, to react to the ever-changing marketplace. All of the Big Four banks have now hiked their long-term options, putting the final nail in the coffin for discount interest rates in Australia.
Now, though the cash rate has held for another month, it seems like the era of ultra-low interest rates is well and truly in the past as the Reserve Bank of Australia has abandoned its 2024 scheduled rise and not yet set a new target.
Brokers have to keep on top of everything, and with that in mind, Australian Broker thought it was a good time to look at the best rates still out there on the market.
Several of the major rate aggregators have published studies in the last week that deep-dive the current environment, with value to be found for qualifying clients.
The Big Four, unsurprisingly given the recent rate hikes, are not top of the pile in any category. For the standard two-year variable, you’ll struggle to find anything like what was on offer just three months or so ago: NAB have the lowest at 2.29%.
Everyone agrees on two-year fixed rates – prior to the theoretical 2024 RBA cash rate rise – with all four offering 2.09% for owner-occupiers.
Beyond the Big Four, there are still plenty of interest rates with a 1 at the front that the broker channel can avail of for their clients.
Reduce Home Loans will give you a 1.88% variable owner-occupier, while investors can catch a 1.99% from Queensland Country Bank.
Fixed are slightly higher, but customer-owned banks are currently leading the way in that space: if your client qualifies, there is 1.59% on offer at Bank of Us in Tasmania and Greater Bank in New South Wales.
