Tic:Toc, Macquarie slash variable home loan rates for low deposit customers

Just when you thought home loan rates wouldn’t tumble any further, online lender Tic:Toc this week has reduced its variable offer to a new rock bottom for home buyers with smaller deposits.

The Tic:Toc Variable Home Loan fell by 15 basis points to just 2.04% (2.05% comparison rate*) for owner occupiers making principal and interest repayments with loan-to-value ratios (LVRs) of up to 90%.

It’s now the most competitive rate in the Mozo database at this LVR tier, or the third best among <80% LVR loans. 

Investors making P&I repayments weren’t left out either, with Tic:Toc’s variable rate for this borrower group dropping by 14 basis points to 2.19% (2.20% comparison rate*) for <90% LVRs.

This again places Tic:Toc ahead of competitors, and it has now become the new variable rate leader in the Mozo database for investors too.

But Tic:Toc wasn’t the only lender to announce variable rate cuts this week. 

Macquarie Bank also stepped in today with 15 basis point reductions across all of its variable home loans for owner occupiers. Rates now start as low as 2.34% (2.34% comparison rate*) with the Macquarie Basic Home Loan for owner occupiers on P&I repayments with <60% LVRs. Meanwhile, for higher LVRs of up to 90%, rates have dropped to 2.89% (2.89% comparison rate*). 

Or if you’re looking for a loan with more bells and whistles, the Macquarie Offset Home Loan (Package) also saw variable rates for owner occupiers on P&I decline to 2.34% (2.62% comparison rate*) for <60% LVRs and 2.89% (3.16% comparison rate*) for <90% LVRs.

As a point of comparison, all rates mentioned above sit below the average variable rate in the Mozo database of 3.27%. 

These moves come just days after online lender Athena dropped its variable home loan to an ultra-low 1.99% (1.99% comparison rate*) for borrowers with <60% LVR. 

Fixed rates continue to trend upwards

However, when it comes to longer-term fixed home loans, both Tic:Toc and Macquarie have done the reverse and raised their rates instead. 

Tic:Toc this week bumped up its four and five year fixed rates for owner occupiers on P&I repayments by 10 basis points. Meanwhile Macquarie made bigger increases of up to 30 basis points for a range of its four and five year offers.

They’re not alone in making such moves. In fact, there has been an emerging trend of lenders hiking up their fixed rates over the past few months. At least 25 out of 99 lenders in our database have already lifted their longer term offers since January, according to Mozo’s recent number crunch. 

“The fact that fixed rates are going up while variable rates are being pushed down even further is a good sign that lenders are now trying to hook people in with variable rates,” Mozo’s banking expert, Peter Marshall said.

“It’s a good tactic, as staying competitive on the variable rates front helps lenders get as much new business through the door as they possibly can while the markets are still running hot. But at the same time, lenders have the flexibility to adjust their variable rates for all of their customers at any time.” 

Hoping to lock in a low fixed rate before any further hikes? Scroll down below to get started today! 

Or if you’re interested in browsing even more of the latest deals, you can visit our dedicated fixed rate or variable rate home loan comparison hubs.