Our largest bank restarts the home loan and term deposit rate reductions with cuts, to market-low levels, one week ahead of the upcoming OCR review

ANZ, the country's largest bank, has cut interest rates on both its fixed home loan rate card, and its terms deposit offers, to new lows.

While the size of these cuts are mostly 10 basis points (bps), such is the competitive pricing state that that is enough to set their offers as the lowest in the market at this time. Certainly they are now all lower than their main big-bank rivals.

It is unlikely these rivals can let ANZ stay there without responding.

This comes as wholesale swap rates took a small turn lower again after a short pause.

ANZ's home loan cuts were basically 10 bps, with one exception of a 16 bps cut for one year fixed.

These are the carded changes. Negotiation should get you more, especially if your financials are strong. ANZ's mortgage app probably has even lower rates, designed to make it very easy to accept, so you don't wander off and try a proper competitive process with a rival. Ease of app experience is a powerful inhibitor to prevent rivals from gaining your business (which true for much more than just mortgage rollovers).

ANZ's term deposit cuts are largest at the nine month term, right where most savers like to be. Their nine month rate has been trimmed by 15 bps to 5.20%.

Now a minority of ANZ's term deposit rate offers are over 5%. It wasn't long ago that most were over 6%.

Their rate moves come just one week ahead of the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Review on October 9. Markets have priced in more than a 25 bps cut, but not quite a double 50 bps cut. The Official Cash Rate is currently at 5.25%.

Almost all banks will have some flexibility in their rate offers. So the carded rates are just the start. Negotiate. How flexible they may be will depend on the strength of your financials. Heartland's rates however are probably not open for negotiation as theirs is an entirely online process.

And the carded rates we report here can be different to the rates banks might offer in their banking app. We would like readers to reveal what their banking app shows as the potential offer rates. Please add that market intelligence in the comment section below.

One useful way to make sense of the changed home loan rates is to use our full-function mortgage calculator which is below. Term deposit rates can be assessed using this calculator.

And if you already have a fixed term mortgage that is not up for renewal at this time, our break fee calculator may help you assess your options. Break fees will be minimal in a rising market. But they become important in a falling market, like now. Don't forget, when you sign up for a fixed rate you are signing a contract. You have been given the right to break it in legislation but the bank has the right to reclaim its costs when you do so. This is NOT evidence of banks making it hard to switch (as some borrowers, and sadly some journalists seem to think).

Here is the updated snapshot of the lowest advertised fixed-term mortgage rates on offer from the key retail banks at the moment.

Fixed, below 80% LVR	6 mths	1 yr	18 mth	2 yrs	3 yrs	4 yrs	5 yrs
as at October 3, 2024	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
ANZ	6.75 -0.10	6.19 -0.16	5.89 -0.10	5.69 -0.10	5.69 -0.10	6.19 -0.10	6.19 -0.10
	6.85	6.35	5.99	5.79	5.79	5.69	5.69
	6.75 -0.10	6.19 -0.10	5.89 -0.10	5.79	5.79	5.69	5.69
	6.85	6.29		5.79	5.79	5.69	5.69
	6.85	6.29	5.99	5.79	5.79	5.69	5.69
Bank of China	6.75	6.25	5.95	5.75	5.75	5.65	5.65
China Construction Bank	6.89	6.45	5.99	5.99	5.89	6.40	6.40
Co-operative Bank	6.85	6.35	6.09	5.79	5.69	5.69	5.69
Heartland Bank		6.19	5.89	5.69	5.69
ICBC	6.89	6.45	5.99	5.99	5.89	5.89	5.89
	6.85	6.45	5.99	5.79	5.79	5.69	5.69
	6.89	6.45	6.25	5.99	5.89	5.89	5.89