Majority of Aussies don't know their home loan rate
Most Aussies can remember their phone number (94 percent), their number plate (77 percent) and their parent’s phone number (76 percent), but new research from UBank has revealed 85 percent of Australians don’t know their home loan rate.
For the second year, UBank has released The UBank Know Your Numbers Index.
The 2017 report reveals a slight rise in people not knowing their exact home loan rate – up from 84 percent in 2016.
Of those surveyed 44 percent could only recall an approximate figure for their home loan rate while the remainder (41 percent) simply didn’t know their rate at all.
Lee Hatton, chief executive officer of UBank said actively monitoring and seeking the best rate should be a priority for home owners as there are some great benefits on offer.
"We are seeing some of the lowest home loan rates on record, so now is the perfect time to know your numbers, and consider refinancing," she said.
"Simply knowing your exact home loan rate and managing it closely could save you thousands of dollars a year.”
The research, conducted amongst 1,021 Australians with a home loan, also revealed Aussie’s are feeling financially strained, with 54 percent admitting that their financial situation is causing worry and stress.
While a further 33 percent of Australians constantly worry about their future.
“Unfortunately, more and more Australians are making significant sacrifices due to being financially overstretched," she said.
"The better acquainted you are with your numbers, the less stress and more money you’ll have in your back pocket.
"It’s important Australians borrow less and live more.
"Home owners currently paying 4.24 percent p.a. on a 30 year, $360,000 home loan could end up paying more than $37,000 more than they need to.
"If they were on UBank's low variable rate of 3.74 percent p.a. instead, they could have an extra $1246 in their wallet each year."
The UBank Know Your Numbers Index also discovered that nearly one in four (23 percent) think that refinancing a mortgage to save money is a good idea but are yet to find the right competitive rate.
This year for the first time, UBank’s research also surveyed mortgage holders with credit cards and found only 14 percent know what their current credit card interest rate is, while 49 percent don’t know it at all.
A surprising three out of four Australians don’t know how much credit card debt they owe, and 80 percent don’t know exactly how much they are paying each month in credit card interest.
