In case you haven’t heard, the “good times” appear to be over…
Well, of course, the GREAT times were when rates were close to and below 2%, but as a consolation of sorts, the banks have been offering a little bit of relief with better discounts as customers were benefiting from the “refinance wars”.
One by one we saw banks coming out with refinance rebates – literally paying you cash of up to $5k (depending on the lender) to claim your loan from another lender – and some that swore they never would offer rebates had even joined the party.
Just as quickly as they joined, we’re now seeing them exit. They are feeling the effects of going too hard too early, and now their cost of funding has gone up (sound familiar??). Of course, these banks are not giving rebates out of the kindness of their hearts (nor from their bonuses), and it’s ultimately you, the customer, that will end up paying in the long run.
In saying that, if you haven’t taken up the offer of the unprecedentedly large rebates and discounts, you’ll end up just footing the bill for those that have. Some notable exits from the rebate game include CBA, UBank, Suncorp, and Bankwest, and these were only announced in the last week. If our experience tells us anything it’s that the other banks will follow very soon. There’s usually a grace period, so we’ll do our best to keep on top of this for anyone that is looking to refinance.
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we proactively review all of our clients’ loans every year for no other reason than to make sure your loans remain competitive (especially important with the rate increases we’ve been seeing), but we also include potential refinance options with a calculation of what you may save if you were to move.
The biggest savings usually include a cash rebate and a slightly cheaper rate, but the window is closing fast, so if it’s something you’re wanting to explore it’s now time to start making it a priority.
Some lenders have already withdrawn their cash-back offers without notice, and others are giving a deadline with the soonest being the 31st of May so if you are interested in refinancing, please let us know urgently.