ANZ, Commonwealth Bank cut fixed rates
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The move comes ahead of an expected official rate cut from the RBA. (ABC News: Michael Janda, file photo)
The ANZ and the Commonwealth Bank are reducing their fixed rates for home loans because the cost of funding those loans has eased.
ANZ rates will fall by between 0.11 and 0.5 of one per cent and Commonwealth Bank rates by 0.25 of one per cent.
The move comes ahead of an expected official rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).
ANZ's one-to-five-year term rates will fall to 8.99 per cent.
Its seven and 10-year term rates will fall to 9.39 per cent.
The banks cannot rule out lifting variable rates even if the Reserve Bank cuts rates as expected.
ANZ spokeswoman Cherelle Murphy says it is possible the easing of conditions that has allowed it to lower fixed rates could also flow through to variable rates.
"In the event that lower rates are sustained, there is a possibility that this will flow on to variable rates, however that is unlikely to occur until we see what the Reserve Bank does with the cash rate and then look at market conditions at that point in time," she said.
But ANZ's managing director of mortgages, Michael Rowland, has told a federal inquiry into banking competitiveness he cannot promise it will cut variable rates, even if the official rate goes down.
"We do honestly have to look at it on a minute-by-minute, day-by-day basis," he said.
Neither bank has announced any change to variable rates.
