NAB cuts fixed interest rates again, will Westpac follow?

NAB have cut their fixed rates again after I locked 2 loans with them recently

NAB slashes home loan rates

NAB lowers fixed home loan rates | NAB News

I've also got a 3.95% fixed loan with Westpac expiring on March 20. They have told me I can go on variable at 4.43% or fix:
1yr at 2.59%
2-3yr at 2.49%
4-5yr at 2.79%

They have been calling me to make a decision, but after seeing NAB recently reduce their fixed rates I shall wait until March 20 before I decide in case they drop their fixed rates again like NAB did. Is it likely Westpac will reduce their fixed rates in the next 1-2 months?

 

Is this P&I or IO? If P&I then I don't think this is new. I changed mine to 1 year fixed at 2.59% about 6 weeks ago.

EDIT: I didn't read your post properly. Holy crap, lucky I only fixed for one year!

EDIT 2: I like to joke that I always get it wrong when it comes to fixing. This is yet another entry on my list of failures.

 

NO that is called EXPERIENCE

however watching other people's mistakes is often more cash effective ( if you learn from them )

 

I find it hard to believe anyone has a greater than 50% success rate fixing their loans.

I know fixing isn't about beating the odds, it's about predictability, but for those looking to beat the odds I don't think experience helps with that at all.

 

predicting in the old days ( before 2015 ) was hard enough , but now the rules seem to change as often as the rates ,

i know the theory of what should happen in a rational world , but how far from ( financial ) reality are we now , 3 , 4 even 5 generations ( before tax-payers will have actual balanced budgets again ) ??

you are only fixing one year at a time ( many people are ) how much lower do you think variable rates can fall

my first property was @ 17.5% so class that as a 'night-mare scenario , wouldn't you like to be on 3% fixed during that ( even if you miss 5 years of 1% )

the TRAP is when you are made to refinance that loan what will it be like then ( and i don't have a clue in this bizarre scenario )

 

Yeah I never fix now as it’s a fools errand. I only did it this year cause for the first time in a while I’m on a strict budget and need to have a very predictable set of expenses but otherwise I wouldn’t even bother trying to beat the system. Too hard.

 

Easy, only fix your rates when the cash rate is increasing

 

good tip. But surely the window to do that must be ridiculously small. Weeks? Days?

 

You know NAB are offering $2000 cash back for refinance also, think it was loans over $250k but not sure

 

if you don't need to refinance you can fix your rate in very quickly with most lenders.
If you do choose to refinance to another lender in a rising rate environment then there's rate lock available.

 

Nice! I got $4k with ANZ last year.

I’m considering fixing with Macquarie at the moment, I’d save about $200/month. But after my experiences fixing I’d only do it for a year.

 

NAB were not really competitive in this space so only really coming into line with the likes of Westpac group.

Coming out ahead of fixed rates vs. variable seems to have merit in the current environment.

For example those who took out the ANZ 2.19% OO 2 year fixed in March 2020 are probably looking good to come out in front vs. sticking with variable. Where as if you took out a loan in February 2020 with ING for 2 year fixed OO it was 2.59% which may be borderline vs. variable depending on the lender.

Timing is the key, but also making sure it is the right lender.

 

If 1 bank cuts, the other majors will pretty much follow.

 

My PPOR loan is with NAB. I am very close to fixing half of it for 4 years for 1.98%. Anyone else thinking of doing the same?

 

Fixed most of my loans last May for only one year. Glad I did as I had a feeling they were going to lower even more. Will try and take advantage of refinancing and cashbacks now.

 

For me, fixing loans at ~2.5% (investment) is a no-brainier as long as I'm sure I won't need to break.

 

WPC doing quite sharp pricing, but need to put through pricing requests to get them. This is for new lending. They're currently close to the sharpest of the bunch...approval process very slow though. Very sharp at <70 given additional discounts in place.

 

Update, Westpac have now reduced their fixed rates..

westpac fixed rate changes - effective Tuesday 9 March, 2021