Hunter United Home Loan Reviews & Compare Big 4 Banks

About
Calculator
Products
Company Information
Search

Hunter United is a customer-owned institution, which means it is owned by its members rather than by shareholders.

Hunted United has six branches in Newcastle and the lower Hunter region of New South Wales. The credit union has been operating for more than 50 years and has about 9,000 members.

Hunter United offers an array of home loans, including ‘standard’ home loans, investor mortgages, interest-only home loans and green home loans.

Hunter United home loan repayment calculator

Thinking about taking out a home loan with Hunter United? Use our home loan calculator to see how much you’d have to repay under different borrowing scenarios. You can also see how Hunter United home loans compare with other options.

Borrowing Amount

Property Value

I am an

Rate Type

Hunter United home loans rates

Now showing 1 - 13 of 13 home loans

Sort by

Product	Advertised Rate	Estimated upfront fees	Comparison Rate*	Ongoing fee
No Regrets First Home Buyer Loan special $0 app. & $0 val fees for first home buyer owner occupier loans > $250k	3.09% Variable	$0	3.19%	$8	More details
Green Home Loan	3.59% Variable	$350	3.71%	$8	More details
Platinum Home Loan	3.65% Variable	$350	3.77%	$8	More details
Owner-Occupied Interest Only Loan special Minimum loan size $300k for Interest Only loans	3.79% Variable	$0	3.79%	$0	More details
Platinum Investment Loan	3.89% Variable	$350	4.01%	$8	More details
Fixed Rate Home Loan	3.54% Fixed - 3 years	$350	4.29%	$8	More details
Fixed Rate Home Loan	3.34% Fixed - 2 years	$350	4.30%	$8	More details
Advertisement Advertisement
Fixed Rate Home Loan	3.44% Fixed - 1 year	$350	4.42%	$8	More details
Green Home Loan	4.5% Variable	$350	4.62%	$8	More details
Green Home Loan	4.5% Variable	$350	4.62%	$8	More details
Package Home Loan	4.69% Variable	$0	4.97%	$295	More details
Interest Only Home Loan	4.97% Variable	$350	5.00%	$0	More details
Home Equity Loan	5.49% Variable	$350	5.61%	$8	More details

Data last updated on 27 Jan 2020

Read our important disclosures and general advice warning

Pros

Flexible payment options.
Specialised and package loans available.
Discounted rates available.

Cons

High standard variable rate.
Monthly or annual fees on most loans.

Hunter United customer service

Potential Hunter United loan customers can contact the bank in a number of different ways, including a general customer phone line and a line for mobile lenders. The credit union can also be contacted via an online enquiry form on the Hunter United website and by email. Customers can also meet with a Hunter United staff member in person at one of their local branches.

Customer service (phone, email, branch)
Online banking
Mobile banking staff

How to Apply

Hunter United customers can apply for a home loan in a variety of ways. These include an online registration form, after which a Hunter United staff member or lender will contact you. Customers can also visit a local branch or contact a mobile lender to schedule a loan appointment. Before applying for a home loan it is advisable to think about given your financial situation and income. You will also need to provide documentation when applying for a home loan. This will include:

Personal identification material.
Proof of employment.
Proof of income, assets and earnings.
Details on current debts, liabilities and loans.
Personal insurance documents.

About Hunter United home loans

Hunter United is a home loan lender that offers borrowers an array of mortgage options:

Owner-occupier mortgages
Investment mortgages
First home buyer mortgages
Package home loans
Principal-and-interest home loans
Interest-only home loans
Variable-rate home loans
Fixed-rate home loans
Split loans
Low-deposit / high-LVR home loans
Green home loans
Line of credit home loans

The credit union also offers 100 per cent offset accounts and redraw facilities and gives borrowers the option of making extra repayments on their home loan.

Hunter United’s home loan interest rates vary from product to product. Its owner-occupier rates range from moderately low to moderately high, while its investor rates are moderately low.

Hunter United’s application fees range from very low to moderate, while its monthly account-keeping fees range from very low to moderately low.

Maximum LVRs (loan-to-value ratios) are 95 per cent for owner-occupiers and 80 per cent for investors.

Hunter United home loan rates

Hunter United’s home loan interest rates are best described as competitive - not market leaders, but not market laggards either.

Interest rates vary from product to product and from borrower to borrower. Investors can expect to pay higher interest rates than owner-occupiers, while interest-only customers can expect to pay more than principal-and-interest customers.

For owner-occupiers, Hunter United mortgage rates range from moderately low to moderately high. For investors, mortgage rates are moderately low.

One point of difference with Hunter United home loans is that it offers green home loans. Borrowers are entitled to a discount if their property has at least three of these eight environmental features:

Solar hot water
Solar power
Double glazing to eastern, western and southern windows
Wall insulation
PV panels or wind turbine (minimum 1.5kw)
Water tank (minimum 2,000 litres)
External shadings to windows facing north, east and west
AAA-rated water efficient fittings

Hunter United home loans review

Hunter United is a customer-owned credit union that positions itself as a “welcome alternative to the big banks”.

It offers a broad, though not comprehensive, list of mortgage options, from standard owner-occupied and investment home loans to interest-only home loans, low-deposit home loans and green home loans.

One notable element of Hunter United’s home loan offering is that owner-occupiers can borrow up to 95 per cent of the value of their property (although mortgages above 80 per cent require LMI, or lender’s mortgage insurance).

That gives first home buyers the chance to enter the market sooner than if they took out their mortgage with many of the other home loan lenders in Australia.

Hunter United home loans have a maximum term of 30 years. Repayments can be made weekly, fortnightly or monthly.

RateCity Staff

FAQs

View All >

Also known as a construction home loan, a building in course of erection (BICOE) loan loan allows you to draw down funds as a building project advances in order to pay the builders. This option is available on selected variable rate loans.

Details

They’re impersonal

Most comparison sites give you information about rates, fees and features, but expect you’ll pay more with a low advertised rate and $400 ongoing fee or a slightly higher rate and no ongoing fee. The answer is different for each borrower and depends on a number of variables, in particular how big your loan is. Comparisons are either done based on just today or projected over a full 25 or 30 year loan. That’s not how people borrow these days. While you may take a 30 year loan, most borrowers will either upgrade their house or switch their home loan within the first five years.

You’re also expected to know exactly which features you want. This is fine for the experienced borrower, but most people know some flexibility is a good thing, but don’t know exactly which features offer more flexibility than others.

What is the flexibility score?

Today’s home loans often try to lure borrowers with a range of flexible features, including offset accounts, redraw facilities, repayment frequency options, repayment holidays, split loan options and portability. Real Time Ratings™ weights each of these features based on popularity and gives loans a ‘flexibility score’ based on how much they cater to borrowers’ needs over time. The aim is to give a higher score to loans which give borrowers more features and options.

They’re not always timely

In today’s competitive home loan market, lenders are releasing new offers almost daily. These offers are often some of the most attractive deals in the market, but won’t get rated by traditional ratings systems for up to a year.

The assumptions are out of date

The comparison rate is based on a loan size of $150,000 and a loan term of 25 years. However, the typical loan size is much higher than that. Million dollar loans are becoming increasingly common, especially if you live in metropolitan parts of Australia, like Sydney and Melbourne. It’s also uncommon for borrowers to hold a loan for 25 years. The typical shelf life for a home loan is a few years.

The other problem is because it’s a percentage, the difference between 3.9 or 3.7 per cent on a $500,000 doesn’t sound like much, but equals around $683 a year. Real Time Ratings™ not only looks at the difference in the monthly repayments, but it will work out the actual cost difference once fees are taken into consideration.

Details

The answer to this question is dependent on your personal circumstances – there is no best time for refinancing that will apply to everyone.

If you want a lower interest rate but are happy with the other aspects of your loan it may be worth calling your lender to see if you can negotiate a better deal. If you have some equity up your sleeve – at least 20 per cent – and have done your homework to see what other lenders are offering new customers, pick up the phone to your bank and negotiate. If they aren’t prepared to offer you lower rate or fees, then you’ve already done the research, so consider switching.

Details

The best mortgage to suit your needs will vary depending on your individual circumstances. If you want to be mortgage free as soon as possible, consider taking out a mortgage with a shorter term, such as 25 years as opposed to 30 years, and make the highest possible mortgage repayments. You might also want to consider a loan with an offset facility to help reduce costs. Investors, on the other hand, might have different objectives so the choice of loan will differ.

Whether you decide on a fixed or variable interest rate will depend on your own preference for stability in repayment amounts, and flexibility when it comes to features.

If you do not have a deposit or will not be in a financial position to make large repayments right away you may wish to consider asking a parent to be a guarantor or looking at interest only loans. Again, which one of these options suits you best is reliant on many factors and you should seek professional advice if you are unsure which mortgage will suit you best.

Details

Refinancing your home loan can involve a bit of paperwork but if you are moving on to a lower rate, it can save you thousands of dollars in the long-run. The first step is finding another loan on the market that you think will save you money over time or offer features that your current loan does not have. Once you have selected a couple of loans you are interested in, compare them with your current loan to see if you will save money in the long term on interest rates and fees. Remember to factor in any break fees and set up fees when assessing the cost of switching.

Once you have decided on a new loan it is simply a matter of contacting your existing and future lender to get the new loan set up. Beware that some lenders will revert your loan back to a 25 or 30 year term when you refinance which may mean initial lower repayments but may cost you more in the long run.

Details

If you are on a variable rate home loan, every so often your rate will be subject to increases and decreases. Rate changes are determined by your lender, not the Reserve Bank of Australia, however often when the RBA changes the cash rate, a number of banks will follow suit, at least to some extent. You can use RateCity cash rate to check how the latest interest rate change affected your mortgage interest rate.

When your rate rises, you will be required to pay your bank more each month in mortgage repayments. Similarly, if your interest rate is cut, then your monthly repayments will decrease. Your lender will notify you of what your new repayments will be, although you can do the calculations yourself, and compare other home loan rates using our mortgage calculator.

There is no way of conclusively predicting when interest rates will go up or down on home loans so if you prefer a more stable approach consider opting for a fixed rate loan.

Details

Following the Global Financial Crisis, no-deposit loans, as they once used to be known, have largely been removed from the market. Now, if you wish to enter the market with no deposit, you will require a property of your own to secure a loan against or the assistance of a guarantor.

Details

The fastest way to find out what the lowest interest rates on the market are is to use a comparison website.

While a low interest rate is highly preferable, it is not the only factor that will determine whether a particular loan is right for you.

Loans with low interest rates can often include hidden catches, such as high fees or a period of low rates which jumps up after the introductory period has ended.

To work out the best value for money, have a look at a loan’s comparison rate and read the fine print to get across all the fees and charges that you could be theoretically charged over the life of the loan.

Details

Real Time Ratings^TM is the only online system that ranks the home loan market based on your personal borrowing preferences. Until now, home loans have been rated based on outdated data. Our system is unique because it reacts to changes as soon as we update our database.

Details

The home loan market is complex. With almost 4,000 different loans on offer, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to work out which loans work for you.

That’s where Real Time Ratings^TM can help. Our system automatically filters out loans that don’t fit your requirements and ranks the remaining loans based on your individual loan requirements and preferences.

Best of all, the ratings are calculated in real time so you know you’re getting the most current information.

Details

Hunter United Home Loan Reviews & Compare Big 4 Banks | RateCity

Smart Home Loan

Hunter United home loan repayment calculator