The first cut to official interest rates in four years has prompted more home loan borrowers to dump their bank for a rival, as analysts report early signs of mortgage competition picking up.

Figures from digital property exchange PEXA show the number of refinancing deals rose notably in February and there has also been solid growth in March, following last month’s reduction in official interest rates, the first cut since late 2020.

Although refinancing is still below the record highs reached in 2023, PEXA chief economist Julie Toth said it remained well above the pre-COVID average. She expected the trend would continue if official interest rates fall further, as markets expect.

“It’s telling us quite a bit about how many people are responding quite quickly to a rate change,” Toth said.

“I think over the last five years in particular we have seen Australian consumers become more proactive in seeking out cheaper loans at every opportunity. We can really see that when rates change up or down, there’s quite an immediate reaction in the refinance volumes.”

The figures showed a mixed picture among the mainland states. Western Australia recorded the biggest increase of 29 per cent in refinancing in February compared with a year earlier, followed by a 16 per cent increase in Queensland, and 14 per cent for South Australia. Refinancing rose 4 per cent in NSW, and it declined 1 per cent in Victoria.

Westpac last week cut its offer to new borrowers on a digital loan to 5.84 per cent, giving it the equal lowest advertised variable rate of the big four, alongside ANZ Bank, said comparison website Canstar. The move does not affect existing borrowers, but Canstar said it was a sign of a coming jump in refinancing.

Analysts say mortgage competition has eased since the peak of 2023, when a bulge of COVID-era fixed-rate loans expired and banks fought to attract borrowers with cash-back offers and lucrative interest rate discounts.

However, some see tentative signs of competition increasing. Jarden analyst Matthew Wilson noted Westpac’s move last week, alongside pricing moves from National Australia Bank and Suncorp, saying in a report that “pricing tension” was picking up, although there was “little to suggest a material mortgage pricing war”.

Loans worth more than $206 billion were refinanced in 2024, despite there being no change in official rates during the year, Canstar said. Banks’ lowest advertised rates are often for digital home loans, which cost banks less to process.

“Three of the big four banks are now in a digital arms race, jostling to steal customers from each other, but only those customers willing to apply digitally,” Tindall said.

Source: www.smh.com.au