Some of the best home loans for investors and refinancers in September 2022

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) may continue raising the national cash rate at its upcoming meetings to help combat the “scourge” of high inflation. This could make it harder for some homeowners and investors to afford their mortgage repayments, though there are still competitive home loan deals available.

With rising interest rates pushing up the cost of many home loans, it’s important to look beyond the interest rate and see the value offered by mortgage lenders, including the fees, features and other benefits. You can use RateCity’s Home Loan Leaderboards to quickly rank some of the top home loans in different categories based on their Real Time Ratings™, which combine an offer’s cost and flexibility into a single simple star rating.

(Rankings are correct at the time of publishing. Please note lenders may trade places on the list as interest rates and fees change and RateCity’s tracker reflects these movements.) 

Some of the best refinance home loans 

Some mortgage holders may be at risk of mortgage stress as the rising cash rate pushes up variable home loan interest rates. But there are still competitive mortgage offers available for those willing to refinance, with lower interest rates that could potentially offer some budget relief.  

Low-rate home loans often have a low Loan to Value Ratio (LVR) as an eligibility requirement, which may make them more appealing to some refinancers. Keep in mind that if you’ve only recently purchased a property, or if its value has declined, you may not hold enough equity in your property to qualify for some low-rate mortgage deals.

You can estimate your current property value with a free property report, though a formal valuation will likely be required as part of the refinancing process.

Some of the best investor 5-year fixed interest only loans 

Some property investors may want to lock in the interest rate on their investment property to help simplify their budget in a time of rising variable interest rates. Low fixed rates may be harder to find than their variable rate counterparts, but another option could be to switch to interest-only repayments for a limited time. You could also potentially benefit from special cashback offers from some lenders for a limited time.

Keep in mind that while this may help to keep your monthly mortgage repayments more manageable, because you won’t be reducing your mortgage repayments during the interest-only period, it may take longer to pay off the property and cost you more in total interest over the long term.

Some of the best green home loans 

Some economists have forecast that rising interest rates could see property prices decline and fall in some areas around Australia as mortgage finance become more difficult to access. Another factor that could potentially affect property prices in the future are plans to assess the emissions ratings of Australia’s housing.

With people more likely to attach higher values to lower-end houses than to higher-emitting houses, renovating a property to raise its NatHERS rating could help a home or investment property to retain or grow its value. A green home loan could help you finance these renovation projects.

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