Within 48 hours of the Reserve Bank's 25 basis-point hike on Tuesday, all four major banks announced they would pass the full move through to variable home-loan customers. Commonwealth Bank moved first on Tuesday afternoon, followed by NAB, ANZ and Westpac in sequence. New rates apply from 15 May 2026 across the panel. The pass-through pattern is consistent with February and March; in both prior 2026 hikes the majors moved within a working day and absorbed nothing.
For new borrowers the announced rates are headline only. Each major still negotiates discounts off the standard variable rate (SVR) for owner-occupier loans above $250,000, and the discount margin has been the more important number for the last decade. Brokers in the partner network report that the post-hike discount margin has not narrowed materially. The story for new business is unchanged: shop the panel, the major you walk into is rarely the major that wins your file.
What it costs at $500k, $750k and $1m
On a 30-year P&I loan, the May hike alone adds approximately $80 a month at $500,000, $120 at $750,000, and $160 at $1,000,000. Cumulative 2026 hikes (the 25 bps in February, March, and now May) add roughly $217 at $500,000, $326 at $750,000, and $435 at $1,000,000 in monthly minimum repayments compared to a January 2026 starting point. Annualised, that is $2,604 to $5,220 more in repayments before tax, depending on loan size.
Where the non-bank panel sits
The non-bank and digital lender response has been more varied. Macquarie passed on the full 25 bps. ING, ME Bank and Bank of Queensland have all announced full pass-through. Athena Home Loans has held back 5 to 10 basis points on its variable products as a competitive lever, a pattern it followed in February. Customer-owned lenders (Bank Australia, Heritage Bank, P&N Bank) have so far announced full pass-through but with delayed effective dates extending into the last week of May.
For borrowers, the practical implication is that the gap between the cheapest-on-panel variable and the cheapest-major variable has not closed in this hike cycle. Refinancing into a non-bank or specialist lender remains the single largest available rate saving for most prime borrowers. We see refinance enquiry volumes via the broker network up roughly 38 per cent week-on-week since the May decision.
Three hikes deep, the strongest message from the data is that lender shopping pays. The price of inertia is now measurable in four-figure annual amounts on most household-sized loans.
What to do this week
- Read your lender's notification letter when it lands. Confirm the new rate, new minimum repayment, and the effective date.
- Pull your three most recent payslips, last six months of bank statements, and your most recent council rates / strata notice. Refinance applications need this regardless of which lender you go to.
- Get one comparable rate quote from a broker. The broker quote does not replace your lender review; it sets a benchmark to negotiate from.
- If you fix any portion of the loan, request the indicative break fee on a 0.50 per cent rate-fall scenario over the fix term, in writing.
- If your buffer is tight, talk to your lender about temporary repayment relief before you miss a payment. Hardship arrangements arranged in advance do not impact your credit file the way missed payments do.
For the next 12 to 16 weeks, refinance windows will widen as lenders compete for the cohort whose 2021 fixed loans are reverting to higher variable rates. Broker channels are the primary distribution path for that competition; the rates available through brokers in the partner network are typically 0.20 to 0.40 per cent below comparable walk-in rates at the same lender.