RELATED: Lazy tax: Shock move as Aus banks slash rates<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg)
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RBA governor Michele Bullock has been clear that there is the possibility of rates hiking again. Picture: Nikki Short<\/p>\n
Canstar.com.au database tracking shows lenders have begun pulling back their lowest variable tiers towards 5.79 per cent and higher \u2013 leaving thousands of households facing the prospect of sub-5.70 per cent deals dying fast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been some movement at the top end of the list with LCU dropping back \u2013 from a variable rate from 5.69 per cent to now offer a rate from 5.79 per cent,\u201d Canstar told The Courier-Mail.<\/p>\n
But Canstar data insights director Sally Tindall added that over 60 per cent of lenders on the database now had at least one variable rate starting with a 5 \u2013 though just one of them, Westpac, was a Big Four bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile Australia\u2019s three biggest banks have seen a retreat in new mortgage applications, CBA\u2019s full year results presented the slightest of cracks in its existing customers in the face of higher rates.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA total of 85 per cent of the bank\u2019s residential mortgage customers are ahead on their repayments. Sounds like a great buffer for the bank but that\u2019s down from 87 per cent in December of last year, while offset balances took a small step back to $94 billion, down from $97 billion at the end of 2025.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said it was a sign that some borrowers were increasingly feeling the strain against the tide of higher costs.<\/p>\n
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How cash rates are faring around the world. Source: Canstar<\/p>\n
\u201cRefinancing or haggling remains the key at this stage, with some banks openly willing to negotiate with advertised rate cuts for new customers, while others would prefer to keep such negotiations behind closed doors for now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Adding fuel to panic, official central bank insights reveal interest rate relief is nowhere in sight for borrowers \u2013 and costs are still at risk of moving higher despite RBA sitting on its hands last week at the August monetary policy meeting.<\/p>\n
Assistant governor (financial markets) Christopher Kent came to the defence of RBA governor Michelle Bullock\u2019s hawkish tone after the event.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Governor Bullock) was being as transparent as she could to note that the tone of the conversation in the board meeting was very much concerned about those upside risks,\u201d Dr Kent revealed. \u201cAnd that concern suggests that there is that possibility of rates going up further\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr Kent warned ongoing global uncertainties \u2013 including conflict disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and sluggish domestic productivity growth \u2013 were key threats that could force the RBA to hike again.<\/p>\n
He flagged that scheduled mortgage payments were now near peak levels relative to household income, with falling home values expected to eventually flow through to spending.<\/p>\n
\u201cHousing prices have declined, but they had also come off very high levels,\u201d Dr Kent said.<\/p>\n
\u201cDeclines in housing prices\u2026 have some effect on people\u2019s willingness to spend. So maybe that\u2019s to come.\u201d <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Big four lowest variable owner-occupier rates. Source: Canstar<\/p>\n
Despite the absolute interest rate market floor rising, the overall pool of lenders competing under the 6 per cent mark has actually expanded this week \u2013 even if the entry price is steeper.<\/p>\n
Canstar said \u201cthe list of lenders offering at least one variable rate under 6 per cent has now reached 51\u201d on its database.<\/p>\n
\u201cHomestar Finance has cut some new customer variable rates and is now offering a rate from 5.93 per cent. This is for online refinancing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBankVic has introduced a new variable rate from 5.93 per cent for police officers new to the bank or from 5.99 per cent for anyone else new to the bank.\u201d<\/p>\n
The lowest rate on the market of 5.69 per cent is now being offered by just one lender Pacific Mortgage Group followed by 5.74 per cent from Horizon Bank and then 5.79 per cent by LCU and The Mutual Bank.<\/p>\n
Westpac remains the only member of the big four advertising a sub-6 per cent variable rate for new owner-occupier customers.<\/p>\n
LENDERS IN THE SUB-6% VARIABLE RATE CLUB:
\nRate from | Lender <\/p>\n
5.69% Pacific Mortgage Group <\/p>\n
5.74% Horizon Bank <\/p>\n
5.79% LCU, The Mutual Bank <\/p>\n
5.80% Unity Bank<\/p>\n
5.84% Border Bank, Greater Bank, Police Bank, Virgin Money<\/p>\n
5.89% BCU Bank, Bendigo Bank, Freedom Lend, Gateway Bank, Mortgage House, Police Credit Union, RACQ Bank, Transport Mutual Credit Union, Unloan<\/p>\n
5.93% Bank of China, BankVic, Homestar Finance, P & N Bank, Southern Cross Credit Union<\/p>\n
5.94% loans.com.au, Northern Inland Credit Union, NRMA Home Loans, Woolworths Team Bank <\/p>\n
5.95% Bank Australia, Community First Bank, Tiimely Home, Up<\/p>\n
5.99% AMP, Australian Mutual Bank, Bank First, Easy Street Financial Services, Firefighters Mutual Bank, Health Professionals Bank, Hume Bank, IMB Bank, ING, MoveBank, Newcastle Permanent, People First Bank, Queensland Country Bank, Reduce Home Loans, Regional Australia Bank, Summerland Bank, Teachers Mutual Bank, The Capricornian, UniBank, Westpac<\/p>\n
(Source: Canstar.com.au. Rates based on owner occupier loans. LVR and other requirements apply. Excludes green loans)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Generic Melbourne. Donnybrook. Real Estate. Housing. City. Picture: Jake Nowakowski mortgage belt, aerial, property Aussies hunting for cheap…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":859895,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-859894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=859894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/859894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/859895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=859894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=859894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=859894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}