May home loan snapshot: Longer term fixed rates are rising

Six months have now passed since the Reserve Bank cut the official cash rate in November 2020 - a move which paved the way for the hundreds (if not thousands) of fixed home loan rate cuts we’ve witnessed ever since.

According to the latest edition of the Mozo Banking Roundup though, that one-way trend appears to be at an end. At least, when it comes to long-term fixed rates.

So which lenders have increased their rates, who has cut rates and what’s happening to variable rate home loans? Read on to find out.

Divergence in fixed rates beginning to show

In early April we reported that signs were appearing that some fixed rates were on their way back up. Well, that idea has only been reinforced since, as 15 lenders in the Mozo database increased at least one 4 or 5-year fixed home loan rate during April (many lifted both).

Bankwest, Bank of Melbourne, St.George and Westpac were among the lenders to have hiked at least some fixed rates in recent weeks.

As a result of the increases, the 4 and 5-year fixed loan averages for owner occupiers in our database also ticked up. The average 4-year fixed rate is now 2.46% (nine basis points up on last month) while the 5-year fixed average is now 2.68% (five basis points higher).

It’s a totally different story with our 1, 2 and 3-year fixed rate averages though - all of which have dropped slightly month-on-month.

Cuts from a number of lenders helped drive these averages down over the month, but among the more significant changes was bcu’s decision to shave 31bp off the 1-year fixed rate on its Fixed Rate Home Loan. The new rate of 1.67% (3.85% comparison rate*) for owner occupiers is now the lowest in our database for that term.

So bcu’s new rate sits atop our charts for 1-year fixed rate terms, but how about other terms? Here’s a snapshot of the lowest fixed rates in our database, plus our averages:

Average and lowest fixed rates - Mozo database (May 1, 2021)^^

Variable rate changes few and far between

As has become the trend, there have been relatively few changes to variable rate home loans. Still, there were enough cuts to push the variable rate average in our database for owner occupiers down to 3.27% (three basis points lower than last month).

Bank of Sydney reduced the variable rate on its Expect More Home Loan (Package) by 10bp to 2.29% (2.31% comparison rate*), making it the lowest offer from a bank lender in our database available to owner occupiers (<80% LVR).

Meanwhile, ANZ cut up to 90bp off its Variable Rate (Breakfree Package) offer and Bank Australia cut up to 50bp off its Basic Home Loan offer.

At the lowest end of the variable rate market, competition continues to remain strong. 31 lenders in our database currently have a headline rate below 2.50% for owner occupiers, though as the following table shows, online lenders are maintaining their grip on many of the lowest variable rates^^ available:

Lowest variable rates - Mozo database (May 1, 2021)^^

RELATED: Gateway Bank introduces monthly LMI option for low deposit home buyers

Thinking about locking in a rate while the going’s good? Check out some of the competitive fixed rate offers in the table below, or take a trip over to our fixed rate comparison tables to browse through more deals from an even larger range of lenders.

^^Based on an owner occupier making principal and interest repayments on a $400,000 loan with an 80% LVR. For more information on average mortgage rates, check out our dedicated Australian home loan statistics page.