Brighter Buying

The average home loan just got $21,000 cheaper

by Kate Watt, Marketing Manager 13 June 2019

This month’s Reserve Bank interest rate cut will save borrowers about $60 a month off the average $400,000 home loan or $21,000 over a 30 year term.

That assumes of course your bank passed on the full 0.25% cut and many did not.
The Commonwealth Bank and NAB each passed on the full rate cut. But Westpac passed on just 0.20% and ANZ has become more hated than a Blues supporter at a Maroons home game by passing on just 0.18%.
A number of smaller banks also passed on the full rate cut, including ING. But spare a thought for Bank of Queensland customers who get a cut of just 0.15%.
Why the variety? Each bank weighs up what it thinks it can afford to pass on, considering the cost of its funding, its business performance and the value it wants to create for its customers and shareholders. In the case of NAB and the Commonwealth Bank their decisions were clearly aimed at restoring consumer confidence in the aftermath of the Royal Commission.
So what can you do if your bank didn’t pass on the full amount. Shop around!
Borrowers are buying in an era of historically low interest rates and lending competition is fierce.
Some of the cheapest loans on Canstar at the moment are under 3.5% for owner occupiers. That’s crazy town. Borrowers who were in the market 11 years ago will remember when rates were above 9%.
Finance commentators are now eagerly watching the Reserve Bank’s next move, which is also expected to be down again.
Did the rate cut put more buying power in your pocket? View our current listings for sale.