Why you've got a $372 hole in your pocket today

The overwhelming majority of Australian mortgage holders will be hundreds of dollars worse off from today as lenders hike their variable interest rates.

RateCity research shows that ‘Rate Hike Friday’ will hit mortgage holders by an average of 0.17 percentage points, or $372 per year on a $300,000 home loan.

The hikes come against a backdrop of rate cuts from the Reserve Bank and in the lead up to Christmas when spending typically goes up, rather than down.

There is, however, a silver lining, if customers are willing to stretch their legs.

At least 24 lenders have dropped their variable rates for owner occupiers but people have to be willing to switch banks, because all but one of these lower rates are not available to existing customers.

The rush of ‘new customers only’ bargain basement rates proves that loyalty is no longer even a consideration when it comes to getting one of the cheapest rates on the market.

Just one bank in the RateCity research, CUA, is dropping its basic variable rate for existing customers as well as new ones.

For investors, things aren’t looking as bright.

The chances are today’s hike is the second they’ve had in the last few months after half of the banks brought in higher home loan rates for investors than owner-occupiers.

This double whammy for investors has started to add up, with the gap between investor rates and owner-occupier rates now as wide as 1.44 percentage points.

The latest ABS data shows that this investor change is having an impact on buyer behaviour – last month saw the biggest monthly decline in investor borrowing since 2008.

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VARIABLE RATE HIKES

RATE CUTS

Lenders who have cut owner occupied variable rates since July