March home loan snapshot: Greater Bank and NAB roll out further fixed rate cuts

• 1-5 year fixed rate averages fall

• Average variable rate edges down to 3.29%

• Greater Bank drops 1-year fixed rate to 1.69% (3.49% comparison rate*)

2021 may have barely begun, but it’s already been a busy year on the property front. Values have increased across the country and the appetite for new loans from both owner occupiers and investors shows no sign of easing up just yet.

While borrowers may have been rushing to take out new loans, lenders have been a little quieter in terms of changing home loan rates.

That’s not to say there hasn’t been any action though. As detailed in the latest Mozo Banking Roundup, there have been a number of recent cuts to both fixed and variable rate offers from lenders big and small.

So, which lenders have dropped rates in recent weeks? What are some of the lowest rates on the market? And how does your own rate compare to our averages? Read on.

Fixed home loan rates

Lenders just keep lowering fixed rates! That’s been the major theme of the past year, and it’s played out again recently. In fact, enough cuts came through in February to drop the average 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5-year fixed rates in the Mozo database (see table below).

Taking a closer look at these cuts, the major change of late was Greater Bank’s decision to reduce its 1-year (20 basis point cut) and 2-year (10 basis point cut) fixed rate home loan offers.

As a result, the 1-year fixed rate of 1.69% (3.49% comparison rate*) available to owner occupiers with the Great Rate Home Loan (Fixed) is now the market-leading rate in our database for that term. Among the other changes of note:

• NAB reduced a number of fixed offers by 5-55 basis points, meaning the 3-year fixed rate on its packaged Tailored Home Loan now sits at 1.98% (3.83% comparison rate*).

• HSBC cut 10-21 basis points off its packaged Fixed Rate Home Loan offer, which leaves the 2-year fixed rate of 1.88% (2.86% comparison rate*) the lowest rate available.

• For investors, Police Credit Union took 10 basis points off its Fixed Rate Home Loan which drops the 3-year fixed rate available to just 1.99% (3.37% comparison rate*)

To put all of these changes into perspective, here’s a snapshot of the lowest fixed rate^^ offers in the Mozo database as well as our fixed rate averages, as of March 1, 2021:

Variable home loan rates

Things have been typically quiet on the variable rate front once again, though there were enough rate reductions during the month of February to precipitate a drop in our variable rate average from 3.30% to 3.29%. Some of the standouts changes include:

• In addition to fixed rate cuts, HSBC was also busy cutting variable rates. The bank took 10-31 basis points off select offers, including 15 basis points off of its Home Value Loan which now sits at a competitive 2.44% (2.45% comparison rate*) for owner occupiers.

• CUA reduced the rate on its Accelerate Variable Home Loan by 20 basis points, which means the lowest rate now available on the offer is 2.94% (2.99% comparison rate*).

• Finally, Heritage Bank cut its Discount Variable Home Loan rates by 9 basis points, leaving the lowest rate available at 2.59% (2.99% comparison rate*).

The landscape at the most competitive end of the variable rate spectrum remains relatively unchanged though. Here’s a snapshot of the five lowest variable rates^^ available to owner occupiers in the Mozo database as of March 1, 2021:

For even more news on the latest rate movements and product changes, pay a visit to our home loan comparison hub.

Or if you’ve realised your own rate might be a bit outdated, why not start shopping around for a sharper rate by checking out the competitive loans in the table below.

^^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 Australian home loan statistics page.