ANZ joins Commonwealth Bank and NAB in cutting variable home loan rates, despite the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) saying an official rate cut is still months away. ANZ already offers the lowest variable rates among the big four banks. ANZ has further strengthened its lead with new Simplicity Plus and ANZ Plus loan rates of 6.39% and 6.09% for new customers respectively.
ANZ has joined Commonwealth Bank and NAB in cutting variable rates for new customers. (Supplied) A week ago, NAB cut its variable rate for new customers by 0.40 per cent, the equivalent of two rate cuts. Commonwealth Bank cut a range of fixed and variable home loan rates for owner-occupiers and investors in August. The move was part of a wider wave of rate cuts before Christmas, with analysis of Canstar data showing 12 lenders have cut their variable rates at least once, while only five have increased rates.Canstar data insights director Sally Tindall said: “This is the third major bank in the past three months to cut its variable rate for new customers without a change in the cash rate. This confirms that the major banks remain very competitive.” Tindall said the rate cut was good news for mortgage holders, indicating that now is a good time for customers to ask their banks for more competitive rates. In terms of market dominance, ANZ still lags behind Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and National Bank, with a residential mortgage share of 13.6%, but it has the largest year-on-year growth in residential mortgages.