Variable rates shift and fixed rates lift in October

Key points:

• There was a mixture of cuts and increases across home loan types in October 
• NAB was the only Big 4 bank to raise standard variable rates 
• Fixed-rate home loans generally increased, especially for longer terms
• Online lenders typically offered the lowest rates in the Mozo database. 

October saw a flurry of home loan interest rate adjustments, with variable rates shifting up and down, and longer-term fixed-rate home loans bearing the brunt of rate rises. 

Variable-rate home loans were a mixed bag in terms of rate changes 

Throughout the month, lenders adjusted variable home loan rates to mixed effect: some 17 lenders cut rates, while 16 increased, according to Mozo’s data. These variable interest rate changes mainly targeted borrowers with loan-to-value ratios (LVR) below 80%. 

Bank of Queensland, Heritage Bank, ME, and Newcastle Permanent all decreased variable rates across some of their home loan products by 5-16 basis points (bp). 

Suncorp increased variable rates on two of its products, for borrowers with 60-80% LVR, by 5bp, and NAB increased its Basic Variable Rate Home Loan by 10bp. The rest of the Big 4 held their variable rates steady in October. 

Overall, it was online lenders that came out on top, offering the lowest rates in the Mozo database. 

Homeloans360 (Owner Variable) and Pacific Mortgage Group (Standard Variable Home Loan) offer the lowest home loan rates for owner-occupiers (as at 1 November, 2023), at 5.59% p.a. (5.59% p.a. comparison rate*). 

For property investors, the lowest rate in the Mozo database (as at 1 November, 2023) comes from Easy Street (Street Smart Variable), at 5.79% p.a. (5.84% p.a. comparison rate*).

Fixed-rate home loans tended to increase, mainly on longer terms 

October saw a wave of lenders increasing their fixed-rate home loans. 

AMP Bank, Bendigo Bank, Great Southern Bank, HSBC, and Macquarie all increased fixed rates by 5-60bp. Most of the larger increases focused on longer-term fixed-rate periods, like AMP Bank’s 5-year rates increasing by 15-40bp, for example. 

Greater Bank was one of the lenders that cut its fixed-rate loans in October, lowering its 2 to 5-year rates by 15-20bp. 

The current fixed-rate leaders, heading into November, are: 

• 1 year: Macquarie Credit Union | 5.48% p.a. (7.89% p.a. comparison rate*) 
• 2 years: South West Slopes Credit Union | 5.49% p.a. (6.18% p.a. comparison rate*)
• 3 years: Australian Mutual Bank | 5.48% p.a. (6.10% p.a. comparison rate*)
• 4 years: Qudos Bank | 5.84% p.a. (5.94% p.a. comparison rate*)
• 5 years: RACQ Bank | 5.54% p.a. (6.20% p.a. comparison rate*). 

Whether you’re looking for your first home loan, or looking to refinance your current one, compare home loans to see which lenders are offering low interest rates that could help you save thousands over the life of your mortgage. Get started with some of the featured home loans below.