‍Brendon reveals the current best rates on the market and suggests that now might be a good time to bet on interest rates staying low.

Assuming you have at least 20 per cent equity and an average-sized loan on an owner-occupied property (note that these things matter when it comes to what interest rate you will be offered) the following are good rates right now:

·      1-year fixed rate is 4.3%

·      2-year fixed rate is 4.6%

·      3-year rate is around 5.0%

·      5-year rate is around 5.5%

·      A good floating rate is discounted to around 5.20%.

The amount of cash you can expect to receive from the bank as an incentive will vary anywhere from zero to almost one per cent of the loan amount.

We have seen a few drops in interest rates over the last week or so. Lenders are definitely starting to sharpen their pencils on their two-year fixed periods, as well as some of the longer term rates. And we are starting to see some good discounting on particularly strong deals. It looks like banks may be gearing up for their “spring sales”—if there is such a thing in the banking world.

So, what would I do if I was fixing my mortgages right now? 

If I felt like taking a bit of a gamble, I may fix for one year and roll it over year-on-year. I would win this gamble if rates don’t go up too fast over the next few years, as the 1-year rate is the cheapest on the market. To back up this approach, of late, there have been hints that things aren’t going anywhere fast, both locally and internationally, so perhaps it’s not a bad bet.

If, however, I get that wrong, and my budget won’t deal with large potential increases in mortgage costs over the next few years, I would fix for two or even three years and be willing to pay a little more now for that certainty. I would definitely keep some of my loan floating (in lines of credit or offset accounts) to allow me to pay extra down and have the flexibility of re-drawing these funds should I need to.

Additionally, banks are making it increasingly easy to re-fix on line. However, the downside of this is that there is no advice being offered during the re-fixing process.  So if you want some advice around what to do with a home loan that is rolling off a fixed rate, do get in contact with your friendly Velocity adviser.

Brendon Ojala is a Registered Financial Adviser with Velocity Financial. No investment decision should be taken based on the information in this blog alone. A disclosure statement is available free of charge upon request.