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Westpac has hiked variable home loan rates in response to the RBA
09 Mar 2023
Westpac has announced it will hike variable rate home loans in response to the RBA’s March cash rate increase, making mortgages more expensive still for variable rate borrowers after a series of hikes throughout 2022.
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced this week, at its second meeting of the year, that it would raise the cash rate by 25 basis points, bringing it to 3.60%. Generally speaking, when the RBA raises the cash rate, banks and lenders are quick to follow, raising their own home loan variable interest rates.
Westpac, one of Australia’s big four banks, has announced that it will raise home loan variable rates in response to the RBA’s March cash rate call. If you are a Westpac customer wondering how the latest interest rate rise might affect your home loan, Canstar Research crunched the numbers to find out how much more you could be paying each month.
Westpac home loan interest rate increases
Westpac has announced it will hike home loan variable rates for new and existing customers by 0.25% pa from 21 March. The below table shows how much more the average borrower on a variable rate loan of $500,000 might now expect to be paying per month, and also the total monthly amount that home loan repayments have increased (based on the assumptions you can find under the table) since 1 May 2022, before the current round of cash rate hikes began.
The table below shows Westpac’s current standard variable and package variable interest rate, as well as its lowest variable rate and the comparison rate for each.
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| Current rate | Increase announced | Effective from | Increase to monthly repayment | Change to monthly repayment since 1 May 2022 | |
| Standard variable | 7.83% (comparison rate 7.96%) | 0.25% pa | 21 March | $87 | $1,140 |
| Package variable | 6.54% (comparison rate 6.88%) | 0.25% pa | 21 March | $83 | $1,069 |
| Lowest variable rate | 5.39% (comparison rate 5.40%) | 0.25% pa | 21 March | $78 | $987 |
Source: www.canstar.com.au. Last updated March 9 2023, 11.30am AEDT. Current rates in the table are based on owner-occupier variable rates on Canstar’s database for a loan amount of $500,000, at an 80% loan-to-value ratio (LVR) with principal & interest repayments. Monthly repayment calculations based on a $500,000 loan repaid over a total of 30 years using principal & interest repayments. Lowest rates based on the lowest rates available for new customers from products that were also available before the May 2022 cash rate increase. Comparison rates calculated based on a loan amount of $150,000 and a loan term of 25 years. Read the Comparison Rate Warning.
Owner occupied
20% min deposit
Redraw facility
Owner occupied
10% min deposit
Redraw facility
Owner occupied
20% min deposit
Redraw facility
Owner occupied
20% min deposit
Redraw facility
Owner occupied
40% min deposit
Redraw facility
Cover image source: Olga Kashubin/Shutterstock.com
This article was reviewed by our Editor-in-Chief Nina Tovey before it was updated, as part of our fact-checking process.
Owner occupied
40% min deposit
Redraw facility
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