Now’s the time to get a better rate

Now’s the Time to Get a Better Rate

Mark Stevenson, Managing Director at Bell Partners Finance (now Evolve Lending & Finance) wrote for The Western Weekender in July 2020 urging home loan holders to take advantage of a historically low interest rate environment and put real pressure on their lenders for a better deal.

The Reserve Bank had cut the official cash rate twice in March of that year, bringing it to a then record low of 0.25 per cent, with the RBA signalling its intention to hold at that level and avoid the negative rate territory that other countries had moved into. With global rates at the floor and Australian lenders competing aggressively for new business, the gap between the best available rates and what many existing borrowers were paying had become significant.

Canstar data at the time showed the lowest variable rate on the market was 2.19 per cent, compared to an average variable rate of 3.47 per cent. On a $400,000 loan over 30 years, that difference translated to roughly $272 per month or over $3,200 per year. Some lenders were already offering fixed and variable products in the low two per cent range, with at least one Tasmanian lender advertising a fixed rate of 1.99 per cent, and further reductions were considered possible in the months ahead.

Mark’s message was direct: borrowers sitting on rates in the high three per cent range had no good reason not to act. Whether through negotiating directly with an existing lender or working with a mortgage broker to find a more competitive option elsewhere, the opportunity to refinance into genuinely better terms had arguably never been stronger.

With lenders competing more vigorously than they had in years, borrowers who engaged proactively stood to make meaningful savings without significant disruption to their financial arrangements.

Think you could be on a better rate? Contact Evolve Lending & Finance and find out exactly where you stand.