Home loan interest rates

No bank has the lowest rate for everyone: pricing changes with every cash rate move and depends on your loan-to-value ratio, whether you live in the property or rent it out, how you repay and the lender's appetite for your file. Among the big four on 30 September 2026, the lowest advertised owner-occupier variable rate for a borrower with a 20% deposit was Westpac's Flexi First online offer at 6.09% p.a. (comparison 6.10%), but non-bank lenders frequently price below the majors. The lender panel on this page links to each lender, and a broker can quote the lenders on their panel for your situation.

It changes with each rate move, so any "cheapest" list dates within weeks, and the lowest advertised rate is often an online-only or low-LVR offer that not every borrower qualifies for. On 30 September 2026 the big four's lowest owner-occupier variable rates for a 20% deposit ran from 6.09% to 6.54% p.a., a gap worth about $176 a month on a $600,000 loan over 30 years. Compare comparison rates as well as headline rates, and ask a broker to quote the lenders that fit your file.

On 30 September 2026, the big four banks' lowest advertised owner-occupier variable rates for principal-and-interest loans at 70 to 80% LVR ran from 6.09% to 6.54% p.a., and their two-year fixed rates from 6.49% to 6.84%. Investor and interest-only rates are typically 0.30 to 0.50 percentage points higher. Several non-bank lenders price below the big four for the lowest-risk borrowers.

The Reserve Bank raised the cash rate four times in 2026, in February, March, May and September, taking it from 3.60% to 4.60%, the level in force from 30 September 2026. The big four passed the earlier rises on to variable home loans in full within about two weeks. Read our news section for the latest RBA decision analysis.

The cash rate is what banks charge each other for overnight lending. When it moves, banks generally pass changes through to variable home loan rates within one to four weeks, although they retain discretion to pass on more, less, or none of any change. Fixed-rate pricing is influenced by the cash rate but is set primarily by wholesale funding markets (the swap rate curve) and so can move independently.

Depends on your view of where rates are headed and your appetite for repayment certainty. Fixing locks in a rate for a set period (typically 1 to 5 years), protecting you against further rises but limiting flexibility (no extra repayments above the cap, break costs if you exit early). If you want certainty for budgeting and you believe rates may rise further, a 2 or 3-year fix is often the right call. Read our fixed-vs-variable explainer for a full breakdown.

Three levers: (1) negotiate, lenders routinely give 0.20 to 0.50 percentage point discounts off carded rates to customers who ask, especially refinancers; (2) compare beyond the big four, non-bank lenders frequently price 0.30 to 0.60 percentage points below; (3) keep LVR below 80%, lenders price-tier by LVR and the difference between 80% and 60% can be 0.10 to 0.30 percentage points.

The interest rate is what's charged on the loan balance. The comparison rate folds in most fees (establishment, ongoing, discharge) and is calculated on a standard $150,000 loan over 25 years for owner-occupier loans. It exists so you can compare apples-to-apples across lenders, since a low rate paired with high fees can be more expensive than a higher rate with no fees.

Yes, typically by 0.30 to 0.50 percentage points. APRA imposes higher capital requirements on investor loans because they carry higher risk during downturns. Interest-only loans (almost always investor) are higher again, often 0.20 to 0.40 percentage points above investor P&I.

At least every six months. The variable rate market is competitive enough that lenders rarely give existing customers their best price unprompted. A 0.30 percentage point drop on a $600,000 loan is about $1,000 a year in savings, often achievable with a five-minute call to your lender.