Macquarie Bank's cut to its variable rates last Friday was small at just 0.05%, but Canstar data insights director Sally Tindall (pictured) says the move was deliberately targeted.
"Macquarie's cuts to its variable rates last Friday might have been small at just 0.05%, but they appear highly targeted. The bank's lowest advertised variable rate is now 6.04%, putting it below CBA's equivalent rate rather than on par with it," she said.
Macquarie's move is part of a broader trend. Canstar's database shows 30 lenders have now cut at least one new customer variable rate since the start of June.
"The out-of-cycle rate cuts keep rolling in with the Canstar database showing a total of 30 lenders have now cut at least one new customer variable rate since the start of June, including Australia's fifth largest lender, Macquarie Bank," Tindall said.
Macquarie isn't the only one competing on price. Forty-four lenders now offer at least one variable rate under 6%, up from 38 at the start of June.
"Competition isn't just coming from Macquarie. Plenty of smaller lenders are ready and willing to compete on rate," Tindall said.
This week, two lenders cut a combined 11 owner-occupier and investor variable rates by an average of 0.06%, while Unity Bank cut 12 owner-occupier and investor fixed rates by an average of 0.20%.
The average variable rate for owner-occupiers paying principal and interest is now 6.65%, and the lowest variable rate on Canstar's database — across any LVR — is 5.69%, offered by LCU and Pacific Mortgage Group. Three rates on the database remain below 5.75%.
Despite falling property prices, APRA's latest monthly banking data shows no signs of a slowdown, with the industry's total mortgage book growing by 0.7% in June. CBA led the pack, adding a record $5 billion to its residential mortgage book in a single month — its largest one-month increase in the APRA dataset.
Attention now turns to the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Board meeting next Tuesday, with all four major bank economic teams expecting a hold. Tindall cautioned that despite softer headline inflation, sticky core inflation and the RBA's own warning that further hikes remain possible mean borrowers shouldn't assume rates are only heading down.
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