How Australian homeowners can beat the rate rise
Homeowners hurting after the Commonwealth Bank of Australia's (ASX:CBA) shock 0.45 per cent rate rise should get a better deal instead of getting mad, according to an independent home loan information provider that connects home buyers with some of the cheapest bank loans in the country.
Tomorrow Finance director Mitch Fraser said the rise, almost doubling that of the Reserve Bank, would take the Commonwealth's standard variable rate to 7.81 per cent, 1.37 per cent more than the special discounted rate from a major bank of 6.44 per cent currently available through its website.
"I can understand people being angry," said Mr Fraser. "But there are ways to beat this. People tend to put up with this sort of thing out of loyalty or because they don't have the time or the ability to negotiate a better rate.
Tomorrow Finance claims it has done the negotiations to get a discounted rate. In the past few weeks as speculation about the Reserve's intentions mounted Tomorrow Finance had noted a surge in browsing activity as borrowers became concerned about an imminent rate rise, the company said.
Tomorrow Finance director John Allen said: "People are slowly realising that when big institutions make decisions that impact on their financial wellbeing there are options available to them; they are not impotent and they are certainly not going to remain loyal if it's always a one-way street.
"An increase of 0.45 per cent or even 0.25 per cent will put many people who are already struggling at breaking point. So the choices are quite clear - sell up, suffer in silence or find a cheaper loan.
"There has always been scope for borrowers to negotiate a better rate from their lender but who has the time these days to hit the phones, negotiate a rate and use that as leverage to get a better deal?
"It's great in theory but in practice it doesn't happen, otherwise we'd all be paying lower rates."