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Westpac 2.29% Variable Rate Home Loan (New Customers, Discount for 2 Years Only)

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Westpac 2.29% Variable Rate Home Loan (New Customers, Discount for 2 Years Only)
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keithality on 21/09/2020 - 22:26 westpac.com.au (2172 clicks)
Last edited 21/09/2020 - 22:39

Looks like Westpac has dropped their variable rate for new owner occupier home loans. This new rate is so low compared to the other majors I almost thought it was a mistake. Edit: then realised it was just for the first two years.

From their website:

2.29% p.a.^ (2.72% p.a. comparison rate*) on the Flexi First Option Home Loan

Rate Includes a 1.64% p.a. discount for two years from loan settlement date reverting to a 1.14% p.a. discount for the life of the loan^.

Applies to new owner occupier home loans with principal and interest repayments. These rates do not apply to existing Westpac Home Loans, internal refinances or switches within the Westpac Group. Interest rates are subject to change.

Credit criteria and T&Cs apply.

Found this while I was working on a personal website to track home loan rates: RateRank (feedback welcome, site is a bit rough around the edges, mods feel free to remove if not appropriate)

Referral Links

Westpac Choice Account: random (115)

Referrer & Referee get $50 after referee makes 5 card purchases & deposits $500+. Maximum of 5 referrals allowed per customer: bonus is not paid to either parties if the referral code has been used more than 5 times.

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closed Comments

  • Kas on 21/09/2020 - 22:29
    +9

    (New Customers)? so what about existing customers?
    Thats why I love Athena! Automatic rate‑match. Existing customers score the same sexy new customer rates on their like-for-like loans.

    • bigbaddbaz on 22/09/2020 - 00:59

      Athena would be great if they offered outside metro areas.

      • esquared on 22/09/2020 - 07:48
        +1

        Whats Athena? Or maybe who's Athena?

      • Pratty on 22/09/2020 - 09:59

        Decision would be based on risk. It's understandable.

      • drprox on 22/09/2020 - 10:37

        Do they do Metro melb? Lol

      • MuddyClear on 22/09/2020 - 11:03
        +1

        Athena do not do construction loans to build new houses too

        • djevoultion on 22/09/2020 - 21:26
          +1

          This is why I'm going with Bendigo and moving to Athena as soon as I can after the house is built

          • MuddyClear on 22/09/2020 - 21:53

            @djevoultion: What deal you getting with Bendigo?

            • djevoultion on 23/09/2020 - 00:33

              @MuddyClear: 2.54%, no fees. Offset accounts.

              • atlinus on 23/09/2020 - 02:23

                @djevoultion: Any adv of goin eith a broker or just go directly with bendigo?

                • ely on 23/09/2020 - 06:58

                  @atlinus: Some brokers offer additional cashback. Other than that, if you have a pretty standard application (good credit history, sufficient deposit) then probably not.

              • MuddyClear on 23/09/2020 - 08:10

                @djevoultion: Redraw? Name of the home loan?

    • SelfMade on 22/09/2020 - 09:59
      +9

      No offset accounts for Athena though!

      • tessel on 22/09/2020 - 10:49
        +1

        Just live pay cheque to pay cheque. Problem solved as will not need offset then. :-)

        • ely on 23/09/2020 - 06:56

          Redraw offers most of the benefits of offset for owner occupiers anyway, although notably not the case if you're planning on turning it into an investment some day.

    • tessel on 22/09/2020 - 10:49

      Have to say that sounds good. I got mine down but it's still .15% higher or something than rates for new customers. I understand why they do it but it's bloody wrong.

  • dcep on 21/09/2020 - 22:34
    +1

    It's Honeymoon rate.

    "Rate Includes a 1.64% p.a. discount for two years from loan settlement date reverting to a 1.14% p.a. discount for the life of the loan^."

    • justtoreply on 21/09/2020 - 22:43
      +1

      Sure. 2.79% is good too though!

      But do Westpac change product names and push the rate up on the old products over time like some dodgy banks do?

      • dcep on 21/09/2020 - 22:51

        it's variable

        • justtoreply on 21/09/2020 - 22:56

          Yeah but if you don't know there are banks that grandfather variable loan 'products' quickly then keep pushing the rate up on them. New customers come in on a 'new product' (usually identical to the old product in every way except the name) that's on a lower rate. It is literally a bait and switch.

  • froodh on 21/09/2020 - 22:42

    Your website shows the comparison rate is not so good at 2.72%. UBank (backed by NAB) best comparison rate 2.49%, and if you wanted to go with a major bank NAB is best with 2.69%

    • justtoreply on 21/09/2020 - 22:44
      +13

      Comparison rates don't mean squat, honestly. You need to work it out for your loan.

      • wisc on 21/09/2020 - 23:43
        +2

        Yes it does, it's a good, quick "at a glance" indicator to tell you if somthing is to good to be true. Keeping the lenders honest.

        Ie quickly exposes hidden fees and charges.

        While it may not be a exact indicator for your own loan, it does help weed out the weak long term loans.

        Drives me nuts when people say it doesn't mean anything. I question their motives.

        • May4th on 22/09/2020 - 00:58
          +8

          it's not adjusted for your loan size so if you have a huge mortgage it will falsely skew it higher

        • nmartin84 on 22/09/2020 - 01:43
          +5

          It doesn't expose shit, you still need to know what the fees are for a product you are comparing too and it is based on a loan value so low it is almost always meaningless to everyone.

          • Rochie on 22/09/2020 - 08:50

            @nmartin84: Maybe everyone in cities. I live in CQ and got a 125k house loan and the fees were definitely a determining factor. Again this is probably an uncommon scenario but they definitely matter when you arent borrowing 500k+ and if you're looking to repay the loan off faster.

        • justtoreply on 22/09/2020 - 08:32
          +9

          I'm just a dude with two finance majors that does something entirely different for a living

          For a 0.1% discount (typical package bonus) on $150k you don't even save the typical $395 annual fee.

          Most people have loans much bigger than $150k, in which case you're after the lowest rate, because the importance of the fee is so much smaller and also the package fees are usually very similar between banks ($295-395). If the fees are the same then you can look directly at the rate. Some smaller lenders may not have the fee.

          Its not until >$400k that you save a $395 package fee in interest costs. Although you need to consider other benefits such as credit cards (often not competitive anyway) and availability of offset accounts.

          TLDR: The bank advertises the lowest rate which involves a package fee. But you should not be paying a package fee on a $150k loan. Therefore the comparison rate is nonsense.

          • justtoreply on 22/09/2020 - 09:13

            @justtoreply: I thought it good to add:

            Package fees also let you fix part of your mortgage without refinance costs. Some banks may not have refinance costs anyway or you might be able to get them waived. But the point is we're arguing about relatively small annual fees compared to what can be gained by fixing part of your mortgage.

            Fixed rates are 2.25%ish for 2-3 years. Vs say a 3% variable rate. For most loan sizes this will save well in excess of the fees you'd be charged.

          • SelfMade on 22/09/2020 - 10:45

            @justtoreply: Don't bother replying to these fools. I think the majority on Ozbargain are teenagers or those in their early 20's who have little to no financial comprehension.

        • SelfMade on 22/09/2020 - 10:42

          @wisc No it doesn't. You need to read up on what it means and what it's based off. It's generally based off $150k lending which is way below what most borrow.

          It can be very misleading…it's clearly misled you.

          • wisc on 24/09/2020 - 10:03

            @SelfMade: yeah, and????? if you compare the comparison rate to the actual interest rate you get an idea of fees and charges, no one is saying - or at least i'm not saying, its going to give you an exact indication of the total amount you will pay for the loan.

            the comparative rate is going to be much higher if there are annual and signup fees, and equal to the actual interest rate if there are none. 150k is a little outdated, but does expose the fees quite well.

            as I said, its a good, quick at a glance indicator of other fees and charges that may be included in the loan.

            if its an extremely low interest rate with a high comparison, you wouldn't be far off to assume there are many fees associated with the loan, That said, it may be OK if you do borrow a large some of money as the benefits may out way the fees in your cases.
            it also may help identify where the lender has only advertised the introductory rate.

            if you are down to a smaller amount, it may not be suitable given your probably paying more in fees than interest… unless you want some of the features offered by the loan.

            Please don't try to belittle other ozbargain members, you have no clue of there history, or there knowledge. It's just quite rude and says more about you then them.

            I've done about 10 years in financial accounting system support. I also have a home loan which at the current projection will be paying off in under half the loan time (in under 5 years as it stands). (saving a hundred thousand in interest or so) - if things go as well as they could that could be done in just a few years. - while this may not be as good as many, i like to think i've done my research to ensure i'm getting a decent deal to get this down as quickly as possible.

            • SelfMade on 25/09/2020 - 13:07

              @wisc: 'a good, quick at a glance indicator of other fees and charges that may be included in the loan.'

              It is just not…but no point arguing if you continue to be so concrete in your reasoning to argue against those who've worked in banks, have a financial background etc.

              Great that you are able to pay off your loan quicker than most but that has nothing to do with the above.

              Having a finance background myself, it is actually of much better value to invest that money elsewhere than pay off your non deductable home loan debt, especially at such low rates.

              • wisc on 25/09/2020 - 20:36
                +1

                @SelfMade: " it is actually of much better value to invest that money elsewhere than pay off your non deductable home loan debt, especially at such low rates."

                Now at least that we can agree on.

        • ely on 23/09/2020 - 07:01
          +1

          It's really not, it's an extremely misleading figure. Run the numbers yourself on your actual loan to figure it out.

  • r0nmac on 21/09/2020 - 22:53

    No rebate ?

    • fufufu on 21/09/2020 - 23:04

      would like to know also

      • CAsam on 21/09/2020 - 23:14
        +1

        2k for every loan plus 1k bonus for the first loan (so 3k for the first loan) until 31 Jan. I'm an accountant and referral partner with Westpac and just had their offer on the rate and rebate come through my email to share with my network recently.

    • ujwols on 21/09/2020 - 23:14
      +1

      Plus rebate/cashback.. Seems really good offer

      • OzBrogains on 22/09/2020 - 10:03

        Depending on your loan size, the extra $1k rebate from StG could be better.

  • Aazza on 21/09/2020 - 23:22
    +1

    I believe this rate is only available for the basic home loan offered at Westpac, so only redraw facility but no option to add an offset account or credit card. Something to keep in mind. Nonetheless it's a good rate + cashback.

  • thydzik on 21/09/2020 - 23:38

    pretty good deal combining with cash back.

    Best I could get from NAB is 2.64%

  • HcNguyen111 on 21/09/2020 - 23:43
    +8

    RateRank feedback:

    • Add Favicon.
    • Center-align some of the table columns (Rates, Offset, maybe even Type & Fee).
    • Currency indicator for Fee?
    • Force 2-decimals for Rates (4 = 4.00)
    • Add another break after footer text.
    • Remove table container background (bg-light)?
    • Contact links don't link to anything (yet?).
    • supacheap on 22/09/2020 - 06:27
      +1

      I defo second using a favicon and remove the link column.

      Also:
      - Enable sort for other table headers e.g. offset, fee, bank
      - Concatenate bank and product name
      - Not sure this would be easy to pull and auto-maintain but a 'rebate' column. Would be a hit with OzB 😉

      • keithality on 22/09/2020 - 10:10

        Thanks for the feedback. When you mention removing the link column, how would you prefer the table to link to the relevant lender?

        Rebate column will be tough…brokers seem to change their rebates every other day.

        • supacheap on 22/09/2020 - 12:10
          +1

          My bad I should have clarified - I instinctively kept clicking the bank logo/bank name for the link so you may as well just use that as the URL instead of an additional column. But I suspect this may be preference based rather than the norm :)

          • keithality on 22/09/2020 - 12:13

            @supacheap: Hmm having logo as a clickable link isn't a bad idea, let me see if I can work out how to do that!

            • HcNguyen111 on 22/09/2020 - 14:16

              @keithality: I'd vote for 'product_name' to be the combined link.

              The below might be useful whichever way you decide, specifically the "formatter(value, row)" concept:

                  // force rates to 2 decimals
    function rateFormatter(rate) {
        return rate.toFixed(2)
    }
    // combine product_name + url
    function productNameLinkFormatter(product_name, row) {
        return '<a target="_blank" href="' + row.url + '">' + product_name + '</a>'
    }
    • [Deactivated] on 22/09/2020 - 07:17
      +1

      Also, where are the second tier lenders? No loans.com.au, Athena, etc even though in some cases they are simply the best deal.

      • keithality on 22/09/2020 - 10:08

        Planning to add more lenders for sure, Athena is on the list.

    • LittleTicket on 22/09/2020 - 07:28

      Unless I couldn’t see it, my 2 cents:
      - add in loan type (fixed or variable)
      - add in characters after numbers (e.g. $ for fees, % for rates)
      - not sure it can be done, but add a filter to chop off rates at a certain point
      - look to add in some other institutions (credit unions etc) and change the header to “Lender”
      - can you do a loan scenario calculator at the beginning so you can see expected costs (e.g. add in loan amount and term)
      - you might consider a mobile vs desktop view, with the mobile view allowing you to display only a few columns so that it fits neatly in portrait mode

      • keithality on 22/09/2020 - 10:12

        Thanks for your 2 cents, am planning to add fixed in the future but it will require a fair bit more effort. That being said fixed is certainly popular at the moment so I feel like it will have to be added.

        Loan calculator is a good suggestion thanks.

        Mobile is a tough one, removing info to make everything fit is a tradeoff.

    • keithality on 22/09/2020 - 10:06

      Thanks for the feedback! Favicon is def a miss, will need to add that pronto

      • firestint on 22/09/2020 - 10:13

        Nice site, as per above plus can we differentiate by I/O vs. P&I? Filter options would be good, by lender / rate min and max / type - fixed or variable / IO vs P&I etc.

        • keithality on 22/09/2020 - 12:14

          Thanks, I/O together with fixed is something I can look to add in the future, but will require quite a bit of effort!

    • ahilen on 23/09/2020 - 12:20

      Mate overall well done buddy. I've been looking for such a simple website like this. I think it has a lot of value once finished.
      My wishlist is having
      Fixed vs Var
      IO vs P&I
      Major lender vs non-major or tier 1,2,3 - this is extremely helpful for those that have foreign income, own properties under a trust/company etc.

      I'm sure you had these on your roadmap anywhere. Looking forward to it developing.

      I'd even suggest an email subscription so you can notify users when new features arrive. Keep up the good work!

      • keithality on 23/09/2020 - 18:36

        Thanks for your kind words, you're right most of the above is on the roadmap. I didn't think about an email sub until the other day, but definitely agree it has value. Cheers!

  • mathew42 on 21/09/2020 - 23:43
    +1

    I was speaking with a mortgage broker recently and she indicated Westpac should be able to offer 2.09% for 3 year fixed.

    • goingDHfast on 24/09/2020 - 15:22

      Wait a few more weeks, your loan will start with a 1..

  • Yaren24 on 22/09/2020 - 05:47

    Is Westpac best for home loans?

  • lklk901 on 22/09/2020 - 06:38

    My rate at Westpac is still 2.74 variable, any suggestion where I can re-finance to?

  • carva848 on 22/09/2020 - 07:34
    +1

    OP - awesome rate comparison site.

    Just wondering, how accurate are the interest rates which include packages? e.g I noted CBA, 4.43%,4.84%, Investor, $395, Standard Variable Wealth Package, but this seems a bit on the high side?

    Thanks in advance!

    • keithality on 22/09/2020 - 12:12

      Thanks mate.

      That rate looks right checking CBA's rates page , 'Standard Variable Rate' but likely most people don't have that and have one of their special offers.

      Tricky to represent just one rate when there are so many limited time offers and permutations.

    • supacheap on 22/09/2020 - 12:14

      OP would just be pulling the headline rate from the CBA website. The actual rate you might get offered (likely to be lower) may vary depending on the broker/banker and your specific circumstances.

  • 092202 on 22/09/2020 - 07:48

    lklk901, refinance with SunCorp, with $3000-4000 cashback, 2.69% with offset account

    • kulprit on 22/09/2020 - 08:12

      I can't see the 2.69%? Might be interested in this one. I'm already with westpac.

      • Cheeseplate on 22/09/2020 - 13:01

        Looks like 2.79 with offset but first year package fee waived?

    • lklk901 on 22/09/2020 - 09:16
      +1

      SunCorp? Thanks mate, let me check out their policy

    • SuperMudkipz on 22/09/2020 - 16:12

      Cashback with SunCorp is 2000 for 250k-750k, $3000 for >750k

  • StonedWizard on 22/09/2020 - 07:55
    +1

    Westpac own website also shows 2.29% variable rate.

  • OzBrogains on 22/09/2020 - 10:09
    +1

    Would be all over this if they could match St George's $4k cashback.

  • Overtime2000 on 22/09/2020 - 10:18

    no offset account for this?

  • cocomelon on 22/09/2020 - 10:45
    +2

    easy street 750K loan the rate is 1.95%, has offset and no fee if i recall

    • valleyrain on 22/09/2020 - 11:40
      +1

      only for over $750K with maximum LVR of 80%

    • Forcf on 22/09/2020 - 13:00
      +1

      Construction fee $1500 plus application fee 500, total fees of $2000, I phoned them yesterday, for long term large loan this is the best offer currently in Market

  • [Deactivated] on 22/09/2020 - 11:17
    +1

    No offset.

    • A9z4444 on 22/09/2020 - 11:42
      +1

      but you can redraw or deposit more into the loan account so essentially the same functionality as an offset account isn't it? and also you saving the 3xx annual loan package fee?

      • [Deactivated] on 22/09/2020 - 11:51
        +1

        Not from an accounting point of view. Particularly for those that is looking to buy another property and turning current OO into an Investment Property.

  • silo on 22/09/2020 - 12:00

    Curiously, what is the best rate y'all are getting from the big4 atm?

    • GuyfromMelbourne on 22/09/2020 - 13:03

      this is probably the best in big 4 for variable.

      • silo on 22/09/2020 - 16:06

        Reason I ask is because I've been offered 2.60% variable + offset (P&I, OO, >$1m, <70%LVR) and decent cashback incentive. Would be good to compare what everyone else can get

        • GuyfromMelbourne on 22/09/2020 - 16:12
          +1

          I got 2.62 on less than 1Mil. The rest is same. And yes decent cashback too. The big 4 are around the same. Except this one.

        • omego84 on 22/09/2020 - 20:46

          Is that variable? If so that sounds pretty good to me !

          • omego84 on 22/09/2020 - 20:47

            @omego84: Sorry just saw it’s variable. Got 2.74 with nab for over 1.5m a few months ago So think you’ve got a good deal.

            • LittleTicket on 23/09/2020 - 19:28

              @omego84: NAB sucks. I’m back at ANZ in an OO ($1m) and on 2.59% inc Offset. The best NAB would do before I left was to offer 2.69% (was 2.81% before). I mentioned that it’s still higher and the manager just threw his hands in the air 🤷‍♂️

              • omego84 on 30/09/2020 - 07:45

                @LittleTicket: Interesting. Looks like much better rates out there with big 4 than nab. Once I have the energy to go through the refi process again I will shop around

  • Sage222 on 22/09/2020 - 12:32

    ing's comparison rate is cheaper.

  • Gazpacho on 22/09/2020 - 15:43
    -4

    Any offset account and annual fees?

    • OzBrogains on 22/09/2020 - 16:27
      +2

      Why don't you click the link and report back. Take one for the team.

    • thehub on 22/09/2020 - 18:37

      Either click the link and find out, or you only had to read above to see someone else had already done the legwork for you and confirmed that there is no offset.

  • amsaini15 on 22/09/2020 - 20:53

    Is there any offer available for Interest Only Loan for investors?

    • GuyfromMelbourne on 22/09/2020 - 22:32

      The cheapest I could find is 2.64% fixed for 2 years with big 4 bank. Try finding below that and if you can't. Happy to help.

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