Australia’s lenders have lifted interest rates on mortgages by 0.22 percentage points above the Reserve Bank’s interest rate rises since July, according to financial comparison website RateCity.
RateCity’s research found that interest rates on more than 200 standard variable rate (SVR) home loans had risen by an average of 1.22 percentage points since July, eclipsing the RBA’s four rate hikes that totalled 1 percentage point.
RateCity said the average three-year fixed rate mortgage increased by 0.74 of a percentage point since July.
Chief executive Damian Smith said RateCity had seen home loan application numbers plateau in February after heavy switching activity when lenders began lifting their interest rates in late 2009.
‘‘As interest rates levelled from December to February, there were less people switching their home loans,’’ he said in a statement.
Over 3500 changes to mortgage rates were recorded by RateCity in February, leaving the average SVR 2.31 per cent above the RBA’s previous cash rate of 3.75 per cent last month.
The gap between the cash rate and the average SVR sat at 1.75 percentage points over the past two years, RateCity said.
The big four banks moved in lock-step with the RBA’s 0.25 per cent interest rate rise on March 2, after three of the banks, with the exception of National Australia Bank, faced a public backlash for bigger rate hikes in December than that announced by the RBA.
The RBA’s overnight cash rate now stands at 4 per cent.
NAB said its strategy of matching the RBA previously has led its mortgage volumes to soar.
In December, Westpac raised its standard variable rate by 45 basis points, 20 basis points more than the RBA’s hike that month.
CBA increased its standard variable rate in December by 37 basis points and ANZ by 35 basis points.
NAB’s SVR stands at 6.74 per cent, CBA’s is at 6.86 per cent, ANZ’s is is at 6.91 per cent and Westpac’s is at 7.01 per cent.
NAB’s mortgage application volumes in February were four times greater than a year earlier, the bank said.
AAP
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