Released 4 May 2012



Westpac has dropped its home loan rate by 37 basis points following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to reduce the official interest rates by 50 basis points on Tuesday (1 May 2012). 

The bank will reduce its standard variable home loan rate from 7.46 per cent to 7.09 per cent. The cut follows the decision by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia to drop rates by 40 basis points to 7.01 per cent. NAB made passed on 32 basis points, but still has the lowest of the big four at 6.99 per cent.

ANZ, which has a current standard variable home loan rate of 7.42 per cent, will review its rates on 11 May, in line with its strategy to review interest rates on the second Friday of each month.

Damian Smith, CEO of financial comparison website RateCity.com.au said while it’s disappointing that the full RBA cut hasn’t been generally passed on, average mortgage holders will still benefit by between $50 and $100 per month on the basis of the changes.

The RBA cut interest rates to 3.75 per cent and next meets on Tuesday, 5 June 2012.