It pays to haggle on your mortgage
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Oct 11, 2017
It pays to haggle on your mortgage
Mystery shopping by mortgage comparison site Mozo has found that the Big Four banks are offering discounts of up to 0.82 per cent to customers who ask for a better deal.
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Image by Pixabay @ pexels
Haggling for a better rate on your mortgage could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars over the life of your loan.
Mystery shoppers from online mortgage comparison site, Mozo, have found that the Big Four banks are offering discounts of up to 0.82 per cent to those who ask for a better rate on their loan.
And that's not all. Some banks are offering incentives such as cashbacks and frequent flyer points to borrowers.
Related content: Are Australians too relaxed about their mortgages?
Mozo staff posing as first homebuyers, investors and refinancers asked for discounts at each of the Big Four banks. The potential savings they found were significant: a homebuyer had the potential to save $45,000 over the life of their loan, and a refinancer could save up to $86,000.
"We urge you to haggle," said Mozo Property Expert, Steve Jovcevski.
"All four big banks were prepared to move on interest rates when pushed, even for investors," he said.
In 2015, the mystery shoppers who posed as investors weren't offered any discounts, he said.
“Given APRA’s recent clamp down on interest only loans allowing no more than 30 per cent of new residential mortgage loans to be interest only, we are surprised to see that banks are offering such competitive rates to potential investors," said Jovcevski.
The survey found that the Commonwealth Bank offered the most competitive rates for first-home buyers, refinancers and investors. The Mozo mystery shoppers said the bank was ‘very keen’ to give a discount.
Mozo home loan mystery shop discounts
Source: Mozo.
- For refinancers, discounts from 4.62% to 3.80% were on offer, equating to $2,873 in savings each year on a $500,000 loan.
- For first-home buyers, a discount of 4.72% down to 4.00% resulted in a savings of $1,527 per year on a $300,000 loan.
- For investors, the discount from 5.54% down to 4.82% results in a whopping $7,200 in savings per year on a $1,000,000 loan.
Westpac was the hardest of the Big Four to negotiate with. It only offered to price-match rates from other banks.
Ask, and you shall receive, says Mozo.
Read more about the Australian mortgage market:
Are Australians too relaxed about their mortgages?
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