Since May 2022, home loan interest rates have risen steadily, putting increasing pressure on mortgage holders.
The average mortgage repayment has gone up by more than $1,000 a month.
As a result, the level of refinancing is much higher than it was previously. The latest figures for February show a 31% increase in the value of refinancing from February 2022, before rates began increasing.
Australian homeowners are on the lookout for the best rates and features as they ride out the interest rate increases by refinancing.
So for Aussie to be recognised for having one of the best variable home loans for refinancers in this year’s Finder Awards is a particularly incredible achievement. The Aussie Elevate Variable Rate Home Loan - LVR ≤ 80% (Owner Occupier, P&I) was highly commended in the category for Best Owner Occupier Refinance Variable.
The Finder Home Loan Awards runs each year and celebrates the best home loans in 12 different categories. This year, the experts at Finder reviewed more than 9,000 home loan products from more than 200 lenders.
We assessed each product on its interest rates, loan fees and features to find the winners for each category.
Here, we take a close look at why Aussie was chosen and some other ways it makes a great loan.
Why we chose Aussie Elevate:
1. Aussie Elevate has low interest rates
One of the factors that the Finder Home Loan Awards were judged on is how good the interest rates are for each loan.
We looked at the interest rate for each month over the previous 12 months and scored every product based on the average interest rate.
Aussie Elevate scored highly every month.
Interest rates are typically the most important factor for both new buyers and refinancers: but in an environment of rising interest rates, that’s never been more true.
According to Finder’s Consumer Sentiment Survey in January, 54% of Australians said that getting the cheapest interest rate was the most important factor to them when refinancing their home loan.
2. It also has low fees
When comparing your home loan options you should always look at the comparison rate. It shows you a more accurate picture of how much you will be paying on top of the total loan value.
This is because it incorporates things like fees.
This Aussie Elevate loan’s interest rate is so close to the comparison rate because its fees are minimal. And when you settle the loan or if you repay the loan early, there’s no fee at all.
3. Access an offset account
Having an offset account can reduce your monthly repayments, which is why it’s another factor the Finder Home Loan Awards incorporated into the scoring. In fact, according to January’s CST, having an offset account was the second most important thing for refinancers.
So, how does an offset account work? The bank will consider your remaining principal balance minus any funds in your offset account when it calculates your interest.
The Aussie Elevate loan comes with a 100% offset account, meaning all the money in there is offset against the loan. You can also withdraw from your offset account at any time using an Aussie-branded debit card.
More reasons why Aussie Elevate might be the right loan for you:
4. You can structure your loans in a flexible way
Aussie Elevate is also a flexible solution for borrowers who want to structure their home loan in a specific way. You can choose to pay the principal and interest or pay the interest only for a set period.
You also have up to 5 loan splits available. This means you can choose to have parts of the loan structured in different ways.
For example, you might choose to have a proportion of the loan under a variable interest rate and another with a fixed interest rate. You could also split a principal-and-interest portion and an interest-only portion.
5. You can borrow for big loans or little loans
Many lenders require large minimum loan amounts or smaller maximum amounts, but Aussie Elevate caters for big and small home loans.
The minimum amount you can borrow is $10,000 and the maximum you can borrow is $5 million. That means, no matter how much you might need to borrow for your refinance, Aussie Elevate has you covered (providing you meet all the other eligibility requirements, of course).
6. You can make additional repayments
A really important feature of any loan is the ability to make extra repayments. It means you can pay more towards your loan than your minimum repayment amount and potentially pay off the loan sooner.
The sooner you pay off your home loan, the less you’ll pay in interest over the life of the loan.
With this Aussie Elevate variable loan, you can make unlimited repayments. There is also no fee for repaying your home loan early.
7. You can also redraw those repayments
If you make additional repayments to your home loan but then decide you could do with those funds back in your pocket, you’re able to do that.
In fact, it’s a good idea to make extra repayments when rates are low and when you can afford it. Then, if rates rise, you can access those repayments if needed.
8. You can trust the Aussie brand
Aussie Home Loans has been supporting borrowers for over 30 years. It is an established name in both the mortgage and finance space and at home among Australians.
As a mortgage broker franchise, it has more than 1,000 mortgage brokers working across 230 stores and has helped more than a million Australians find the right home loan.
Its home loan offering is just another way it is supporting homeowners. While not a bank itself, it is backed by one. And through that, it offers 3 different streams of home loans: Aussie Select, Aussie Activate and Aussie Elevate.
Designed to be flexible, each loan offers features and benefits to help borrowers reach their goals.
Finder’s Home Loan Awards 2023 looked at categories across owner-occupier and investor loans, as well as variable and fixed. For more information on the methodology for this year’s awards, visit: https://www.finder.com.au/finders-home-loan-methodology-2023
Author bio:
Rebecca Pike is Finder's senior writer for money. She joined Finder after almost 4 years writing for business publications in the mortgage and finance industry, including 3 years as editor of Mortgage Professional Australia.