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Investors in the dark about their interest rate

04 JUL 2012 By Steven Cross 2 min read Finance

Almost one third of all Australians have no idea what their mortgage interest rate is and investors don't fare much better, according to a new survey.

The survey, conducted by Aussie, found a similar percentage of investors to standard borrowers are also unaware of their interest rates, even as they seek to secure their financial future through property.

"This statistic is really worrying," Aussie founder and chairman John Symond said.

"People need to be constantly questioning their rate. It could be just by speaking to their broker about a simple mortgage health check to see how much they could save,” he said.

Of those surveyed who were able to nominate their interest rate within a quarter percentage band, 23.5 per cent of home owners and 23.2 per cent of property investors were paying more than 7.0 per cent.

 
 

"Those who have had less than half a per cent rate cut on their variable rate since November or pay more than 6.5 per cent are simply out of market,” Mr Symond said.

"When you consider the savings between 7.0 per cent and 6.0 per cent on a home loan of $300,000 is around $197 per month, and take that over the life of your loan, that is about six years and eight months cut from the loan term and several thousand dollars saved in repayments.

"I urge all borrowers to be more attentive to their home loan rate."

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RELATED TERMS

Interest
Interest is the amount of money charged by a lender or financial institution for a loan, which is calculated as the percentage of the principal amount paid over the loan term.
Mortgage
Mortgages are loans that are used to buy homes and other real estate where the property itself serves as collateral for the loan.