Why are 2-year fixed rates still dropping and 4-year rates rising? Sally Tindall

The RBA kept the official cash rate on hold, but that hasn’t stopped banks from moving home loan rates.

While lenders have made a flurry of cuts to 2- and 3-year fixed rates in the last month, there has been an increase in the number of lenders hiking 4-year fixed rates.

Analysis of the RateCity.com.au database shows 11 lenders have raised 4-year fixed rates, including CBA, Bendigo Bank and Aussie Home Loans, while only two have cut them.

So why are 2-year fixed rates still dropping and 4-year rates rising?

The RBA is helping facilitate the ultra-low fixed rates, in part, via its term funding facility, which allows banks to borrow money at a three-year fixed rate of 0.10 per cent.

Over the last month, the majority of one- to three-year fixed rate changes have been cuts, not hikes, as lenders make the most of the low-cost funding available.

However, in the last month the majority of four-year fixed rates changes were in the opposite direction as some banks start to factor in a likely rise to the cash rate in 2024 and the end of the RBA’s term funding facility on 30 June this year.

The big question is whether Westpac will hike its four-year rate. Australia’s second largest bank currently has the lowest four-year fixed rate in the market. Hiking this rate could lose the bank its competitive edge in this category.

Watching these four-year rates come off the table has some people panicked they will miss the bottom. Just because these rates could be soon rise, doesn’t mean you should rush out and fix for the next four years.

If you are looking to refinance, work out what type of mortgage suits your finances. 

Then shop around for a competitive rate, not the other way around.

Sally Tindall is RateCity.com.au research director