How to bring down your home loan costs even as property prices go up

By JP Pelosi · · 2 min read
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Steep housing costs
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Finding a top home loan has never been more important, as the 'asking prices' for houses in major cities such as Sydney appear to be rising. 

The asking price for a three bedroom house in Sydney for the week ending January 30 was up 21%, according to recent data from SQM Research. 

This puts the asking price at about $1.7m.

This represents a significant jump, especially given that units only moved up 1.4% to an asking price of $791,121 in the same week.

SQM crunches the data on this weekly basis to try and offer a more timely read of the selling market. This can be useful for those considering buying a specific size of home.

For example, two bedroom units are rather popular in major cities such as Melbourne and Sydney. The asking price on two bedroom units in Sydney at the end of January was about $860,259, as per SQM’s data. 

This can be broken down further by various city regions, such as the eastern suburbs of Sydney where the asking price on a two bedroom unit was an incredible $1.2m at the end of January. Meanwhile, a two bedroom unit in Parramatta was going for just $601,000 over the same week. 

A simple comparison like this only highlights the importance of looking at a few different suburbs within a given city because the laws of supply and demand can be applied to any given area – and are changeable over time.

Prices one thing, home loan rates another 

This type of property review also shows a prospective buyer that the size of your home loan - and indeed your first deposit - can vary greatly when considering different housing types. 

For example, if your goal is to simply get onto the property ladder, then a smaller apartment in a suburb with a good supply of units is surely going to help you bring down the cost of your home loan. 

If, for instance, you were to buy a unit in the Liverpool area of Sydney, you’d be looking at around $625,000 asking price, as per SQM. Let’s say you make a (20%) first deposit of $12,500 on that property – you would then require a home loan of about $612,500.

The average variable home loan rate is currently 6.85% p.a. in the Mozo database, so monthly repayments on this amount over 25 years would be $4,271. 

However, you could bring your costs down quite a bit just by shopping around for a better home loan rate. Say you were able to secure 6% p.a., you could reduce your monthly repayments to $3,846.

Clearly it’s well worth the effort doing some basic home loan comparisons!

Last updated 8 May 2025 Important disclosures and comparison rate warning*
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Loan purpose
Buying or Refinancing
  • Promoted

    Variable Home Loan

    • Owner occupier
    • Principal & Interest
    • 10% min deposit
    • Offset available
    • Redraw available
    Interest rate
    5.78 % p.a.
    Variable
    Comparison rate
    5.82 % p.a.
    Initial monthly repayment
    $4,215
    Go to site
    • $0 application fee to pay
    • Unlimited additional repayments
    • Apply in as little as 15 minutes
  • Promoted

    Variable Home Loan 90

    • Owner occupier
    • Principal & Interest
    • 10% min deposit
    • Offset available
    • Redraw available
    Interest rate
    5.79 % p.a.
    Variable
    Comparison rate
    5.83 % p.a.
    Initial monthly repayment
    $4,220
    Go to site
    • No monthly or ongoing fees
    • Option to add an offset for 0.10% p.a.

  • Fixed Home Loan

    • Fixed rate
    • Owner occupier
    • Principal & Interest
    • 5% min deposit
    • Redraw available
    • Cashback
    Interest rate
    5.69 % p.a.
    Fixed 2 years
    Comparison rate
    6.00 % p.a.
    Initial monthly repayment
    $4,174
    Go to site
    • Get up to $4,000 cashback (T&Cs apply)
    • Up to 12 months repayments in advance without penalties
    • Split loan available

  • Fixed Home Loan

    • Fixed rate
    • Owner occupier
    • Principal & Interest
    • 10% min deposit
    • Offset available
    • Redraw available
    Interest rate
    5.74 % p.a.
    Fixed 2 years
    Comparison rate
    5.81 % p.a.
    Initial monthly repayment
    $4,197
    Go to site
    • $0 application fee to pay
    • Additional repayments up to $20,000/year
    • Apply in as little as 15 minutes

  • Variable Home Loan

    • Owner occupier
    • Principal & Interest
    • 10% min deposit
    • Offset available
    • Redraw available
    Interest rate
    5.78 % p.a.
    Variable
    Comparison rate
    5.82 % p.a.
    Initial monthly repayment
    $4,215
    Go to site
    • $0 application fee to pay
    • Unlimited additional repayments
    • Apply in as little as 15 minutes

  • Variable Home Loan 90

    • Owner occupier
    • Principal & Interest
    • 10% min deposit
    • Offset available
    • Redraw available
    Interest rate
    5.79 % p.a.
    Variable
    Comparison rate
    5.83 % p.a.
    Initial monthly repayment
    $4,220
    Go to site
    • No monthly or ongoing fees
    • Option to add an offset for 0.10% p.a.

  • Home Loan

    • Owner occupier
    • Principal & Interest
    • 10-20% deposit
    • Redraw available
    Interest rate
    6.13 % p.a.
    Variable
    Comparison rate
    6.14 % p.a.
    Initial monthly repayment
    $4,377
    Go to site
    • Offset and non-offset options for flexible payments
    • No application and monthly account keeping fees
    • Get up to $4,000 cashback (T&Cs apply)

  • Home Loan with Offset

    • Owner occupier
    • Principal & Interest
    • 10-20% deposit
    • Offset available
    • Redraw available
    Interest rate
    6.34 % p.a.
    Variable
    Comparison rate
    6.35 % p.a.
    Initial monthly repayment
    $4,475
    Go to site
    • Offset and non-offset options for flexible payments
    • No application and monthly account keeping fees
    • Get up to $4,000 cashback (T&Cs apply)

  • Basic Variable Home Loan

    • Owner occupier
    • Principal & Interest
    • 10-20% deposit
    • Redraw available
    Interest rate
    6.64 % p.a.
    Variable
    Comparison rate
    6.67 % p.a.
    Initial monthly repayment
    $4,617
    Go to site

  • Offset Variable Home Loan

    • Owner occupier
    • Principal & Interest
    • 10-20% deposit
    • Offset available
    • Redraw available
    Interest rate
    7.49 % p.a.
    Variable
    Comparison rate
    7.52 % p.a.
    Initial monthly repayment
    $5,029
    Go to site
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* WARNING: This comparison rate applies only to the example or examples given. Different amounts and terms will result in different comparison rates. Costs such as redraw fees or early repayment fees, and cost savings such as fee waivers, are not included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan. The comparison rate displayed is for a secured loan with monthly principal and interest repayments for $150,000 over 25 years.

** Initial monthly repayment figures are estimates only, based on the advertised rate. You can change the loan amount and term in the input boxes at the top of this table. Rates, fees and charges and therefore the total cost of the loan may vary depending on your loan amount, loan term, and credit history. Actual repayments will depend on your individual circumstances and interest rate changes.

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