New home loan moves: ANZ, People's Choice, Auswide drop rates

Multiple Australian home loan lenders slashed advertised interest rates this week as the market prepares to learn of the next Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cash rate decision. 

The RBA board will come together for a two-day meeting on Monday, with the decision to be revealed on Tuesday afternoon.

All eyes will be on RBA governor Michele Bullock as she delves into how this week's CPI data may shape the board's outlook.

For the first time in over three years headline inflation has fallen into the central bank's target range, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures.

However, underlying inflation remains high at 3.5% annually – still half a percent above the RBA's ideal range.

While this may inspire hope among cash-strapped homeowners, CommBank has stated inflation is still too high to support its once-expected December rate cut.

Instead, the bank's forecast now aligns with that of NAB, Westpac, and ANZ, which all predict the first cash rate cut in February.

Amid all of that, the home loan market saw some notable interest rate movements this week, with some lenders dropping variable rates to as low as 5.89% p.a. and fixed rates to as low as 5.49% p.a. Here are all the details:

Auswide Bank drops fixed and variable rates to as low as 5.54% p.a.

Mutual bank Auswide Bank slashed rates on its Home Loan Plus with Freedom Package lineup.

The product offers up to 10 offset accounts and discounts on home loan rates and bank fees, at the cost of a $395 annual fee.

New rates for owner-occupiers are as follows:

Product	LVR	Change	New rate	Comparison rate*
Variable rate	≤95%	-20bp	5.99%	6.34%
Two year fixed - special rate*	≤95%	-20-30bp	5.54%	6.33%

*The special fixed rate is available to new-to-bank customers only.

ANZ shakes up fixed home loan rates

ANZ made headlines by lowering advertised fixed rates for select borrowers this week, marking its second rate reduction of 2024.

The new rates are now the most competitive among the big four banks, starting at 5.74% p.a. for two- and three-year fixed periods.

However, borrowers with less than a 20% deposit or equity may see higher rates on the back of the update.

Updated rates from ANZ include:

Fixed period	LVR	Change	New rate	Comparison rate*
Two years	≤80%	-25bp	5.74%	6.94%
	80-90%	+15bp	6.19%	7.19%
Three years	≤80%	-25bp	5.74%	6.81%
	80-90%	+15bp	6.19%	7.08%
Four years	≤80%	-25bp	5.89%	6.75%
	80-90%	+15bp	6.34%	7.03%

People's Choice drops variable rates to as low as 5.89% p.a.

For borrowers in the market for a new variable rate, one of the lowest available is now offered by member-owned People's Choice.

It's on par with variable rates advertised by Horizon Bank and The Mutual Bank – each of which promise rates as low as 5.89% p.a. to borrowers with loan-to-value ratios (LVRs) of no more than 70% and 80% respectively.

New rates on People's Choice's Basic Variable Loan product for new-to-bank customers borrowing at least $150,000 are as follows:

Product	Interest type	LVR	Change	New rate	Comparison rate*
Owner-occupier	P&I	≤70%	-10bp	5.89%	5.90%
		70-80%	-10bp	5.99%	6.00%
Investor	P&I	≤70%	-10bp	6.14%	6.15%
		70-80%	-10bp	6.24%	6.25%
	IO	≤70%	-10bp	6.44%	6.27%
		70-80%	-10bp	6.54%	6.37%

Australian Mutual Bank offers special fixed rate for investors

Finally, Australian Mutual Bank has unveiled a special offer for property investors looking to fix their rate for two years.

These offers are available to new-to-bank customers borrowing at least $500,000 with LVRs of no greater than 80%:

Product	LVR	Interest rate	Comparison rate*
Two year fixed rate - P&I - Special offer	≤80%	5.49%	6.72%
Two year fixed rate - IO - Special offer	≤80%	5.49%	6.86%

Other movers

• Qudos Bank dropped fixed rates by up to 20bp
• BankVic lowered variable rates on its offset products by six basis points
• Credit Union SA lowered fixed home loan rates by as much as 40 basis points
• Bank Australia dropped fixed rates by up to 50 basis points

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^{Image by Ricardo Gomez Angel on Unsplash}