July home loans snapshot: Fresh market leaders emerge as rates hit new bottom

By Tom Watson ·

Just when the market appeared to be quietening, some seismic shifts at the lower end of the home loan market have changed the rate landscape once again according to the latest edition of the Mozo Banking Roundup. 

Mozo figures reveal that both fixed rates and variable rates continued to slide during June, with new rate leaders emerging in both categories in the past two weeks. 

So where do rates sit now, and what can we expect in the month ahead? Here’s our July snapshot.

A fixed rate below 2.00%

Perhaps most significant of all was the monumental change from Bank of us earlier this week, whose new fixed rate FlexiDiscount Home Loan offer crashed through the 2.00% barrier! 

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The limited time offer has a fixed rate of just 1.99% for 1, 2 and 3-year terms with comparison rates* of 2.78%, 2.71% and 2.64% respectively. Though it’s only available to Tasmanians.

Among other notable fixed rate changes:

  • Homestar launched a super low 2-year fixed rate of 2.06% (2.49% comparison rate*) with its Star Essentials Fixed Home Loan

  • NAB cut 10 basis points off a number of fixed loans meaning its most competitive rate is now 2.19% (4.02% comparison rate*) for 2 years. 

  • ING was one of the few lenders to increase, lifting fixed rates by 5 to 40 basis points. However, ING is still among the most competitive lenders with rates as low as 2.19% (3.79% comparison rate) for 2 years with its Fixed Rate Loan. 

So what do fixed rates look like? Here are the five database-leading rates and our fixed rate averages as of July 1, 2020:

Term

Rate leader

Fixed rate

Average

1-year

Bank of us

1.99% (2.78% comparison rate*)

2.61%

2-year

Bank of us

1.99% (2.71% comparison rate*)

2.56%

3-year

Bank of us

1.99% (2.64% comparison rate*)

2.63%

4-year

HSBC

2.40% (3.13% comparison rate*)

2.99%

5-year

RACQ

2.49% (3.76% comparison rate*)

2.98%

Online lenders drive variable rates down  

Lenders have also continued to drop their variable home loan rates recently, though less dramatically. As of today the average variable rate in the Mozo database for owner occupier loans sits at 3.42% - a slight decrease on the June 1 average of 3.43%.

The big story of the month came from online lender Reduce Home Loans which cemented its spot as the variable rate leader in our database with the introduction of its Super Saver Variable home loan with a rate of just 2.19% (2.19% comparison rate*).

To put the Super Saver Variable rate into perspective, it’s currently 20 basis points below its nearest competitors and a considerable 123 basis points below the our average. 

In other notable variable rate changes: 

  • Fellow online lender Freedomlend trimmed 10 basis points off its Variable Home Loan taking it to 2.39% (2.39% comparison rate*) and among the five lowest variable lenders in our database. 

  • ING cut 19 basis points off its Orange Advantage (Package) loan to 2.64% (2.98% comparison rate*) which makes it one of the lowest packaged offers on the market. 

  • NAB took 15 basis points off its Base Variable Home Loans Special, which now sits at 2.69% (2.69% comparison rate*). That’s the lowest of the comparable big four offers. 

The outlook ahead

So with a host of recent changes, including two new market leading offers, can we expect mortgage rates to continue their decline in July? 

According to Mozo Banking Expert, Peter Marshall, competition among lenders will remain fierce, with some extra sweeteners likely to be thrown at borrowers - particularly those looking to refinance. 

“I think there's going to continue to be a lot of competition out there, but it seems to me that rates are probably very close to as low as lenders would want to take them,” he said. 

“So I think we're more likely to see things such as cash back offers. So one-off bonuses to attract people's business rather than direct rate discounting. Having said that, sure there will be the occasional lender who will put a new rate out there but I don't think it'll be widespread.”

RELATED: Bank of Us and Homestar take fixed mortgage rates to new lows

All this rate talk left you itching to refinance your own mortgage or compare even more offers? Get started with some of the hottest rates around in the table below, or check out the Mozo home loans comparison tables for the latest rates from over 80 different lenders

*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, loan amount and term entered. 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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Tom Watson
Tom Watson
Finance journalist

Tom Watson is a financial journalist at Mozo, specialising in fintech, property and business banking. Whether it’s reporting on banking trends or uncovering the latest product innovations, Tom’s mission is to keep our readers up to date with breaking Australian financial news. His work is often sourced in the media and across social media channels. Tom has a degree in Journalism from the University of Technology, Sydney.