April home loans snapshot: Here’s where fixed and variable rates now stand

It’s been over two months since the Reserve Bank’s first interest rate cut in March, but the fallout is still being recorded with home loan rates continuing their downward trajectory throughout April. 

According to the recently released Mozo Banking Roundup for April 2020, fixed rate cuts once again dominated rate changes in the home loan market as there were 315 cuts recorded in the Mozo database during the month. 

While many of the lowest fixed rates for owner occupiers remained unchanged, there were still a number of notable movements in April. 

ANZ made cuts of between 19 and 59 basis points to its fixed home loan range. Its fixed rate Breakfree Package now sits at 2.19% (4.00% comparison rate*) for 2 years and 2.29% for 3 years (3.89% comparison rate*) - the lowest comparable rates on offer among the Big Four. 

Elsewhere, Kogan Money (60-174 basis points) and Virgin Money (20-160 basis points) both made significant cuts to their respective offers, while Suncorp reduced select fixed rate home loans by up to 35 basis points.

As a result of the recent changes, here’s how the average rates (based on a $400k, owner occupier loan with an 80% LVR) across fixed home loans tracked in the Mozo database sit as of May 5: 

• 1-year: 2.71%
• 2-year: 2.65%
• 3-year: 2.72%
• 4-year: 3.05%
• 5-year: 3.08%

And here are the current fixed home loan market leaders in the Mozo database:

Term	Fixed rate	Lender and comparison rate*
1-year fixed	2.09%	Reduce Home Loans (2.72% comparison rate*) & Well Home Loans (2.47% comparison rate*)
2-year fixed	2.09%	ING (3.77% comparison rate*), Reduce Home Loans (2.68% comparison rate*) & Well Home Loans (2.44% comparison rate*)
3-year fixed	2.09%	Reduce Home Loans (2.64% comparison rate*) & Well Home Loans (2.41% comparison rate*)
4-year fixed	2.40%	HSBC (3.13% comparison rate*)
5-year fixed	2.54%	ING (3.50% comparison rate*)

Variable rate cuts continue

While quieter, there was also some action in the world of variable rate home loans during April. 

Chief among the changes were those made to the Commonwealth Bank Extra Home Loan. While the rate for borrowers with an LVR below 80% was cut to 2.79% (2.81% comparison rate*), CommBank increased the rate for LVRs above 80% to 3.13% (3.15% comparison rate*). 

UBank (25 basis points), Bank of Queensland (17 basis points), Teachers Mutual Bank (25 basis points) and new online lender Yard (25 basis points) were among the other lenders to make variable rate cuts during April. 

These latest reductions mean that the average variable rate in the Mozo database (based on a $400,000, owner occupier loan with an 80% LVR) is now at 3.44%, while some of the lowest variable offers in our database are as follows.

	Variable rate	Comparison rate*
Reduce Home Loans - Rate Slasher	2.39%	2.39%*
Homestar - Star Essentials	2.44%	2.47%*
Well Home Loans - Well Balanced	2.47%	2.50%*
Freedomlend - Variable	2.49%	2.49%*
Pacific Mortgage Group - Standard Variable	2.49%	2.49%*

RELATED: April savings account snapshot: Further cuts leave BOQ sitting pretty at 2.00%

Interested in seeing how your own mortgage rate stacks up? Check out some of the hot deals in the table below, or head on over to Mozo’s dedicated home loan comparison table to compare fixed and variable rates from a range of lenders.