Login
ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
The price war around fixed rates shows no signs of abating, with yet more lenders slashing the interest on their products.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Yesterday, ING DIRECT once again took a sword to its fixed rates, cutting its three year fixed rate home loan to 6.29 per cent p.a.
The four and five year rates have also been cut to 6.59 per cent p.a. and 6.69 per cent p.a. respectively.
ING DIRECT executive director delivery, Lisa Claes, said the lender had decided to cut its rates in a bid to maintain its competitive position in what is a very active market for fixed rate loans.
“Fixed rates now account for a significant portion of home loans being written by ING DIRECT with customers keen to lock in a low rate amid uncertainty over interest rates,” Ms Claes said.
“The trend of fixing loans is strong amid sharemarket turmoil and uncertainty over interest rates in general.
“Market conditions, resulting in lower long term interest rates, have allowed us to drive a better deal for new customers choosing to fix the interest rate on their loan.
“Historically customers would need to pay a premium for a fixed loan; currently that is not the case. We haven’t seen such a difference between the variable rate and long term fixed rates for some time.”
BUT ING DIRECT wasn’t the only lender to trim its fixed rates yesterday, with St George also jumping on the bandwagon.
St.George Bank cut its three year fixed home loan rate by 0.15 per cent to 6.39 per cent p.a. for Advantage Package customers.
The lender also decreased its Advantage Package two year fixed home loan rate by 0.05 per cent to 6.39 per cent p.a.
St.George Bank chief executive Rob Chapman said today’s announcement was the latest in a series of recent fixed rate decreases.
“This is the fifth cut to St.George’s competitive fixed home loan rates since July this year. Over this time, our popular three year fixed home loan rate has decreased 0.90 per cent,” he said.
