Unloan and Athena leave other lenders in the dust, immediately cutting rates for borrowers
The Reserve Bank announced it would slice 25 basis points off the cash rate at its August meeting, and while most banks are making customers wait up to two weeks before getting rate relief, two lenders have passed on the cut immediately.
Online-only lenders Unloan and Athena have already reduced their variable rate home loans by 0.25% p.a.
Unloan’s variable rate is now 5.24% p.a. (5.15% p.a. comparison rate*), while Athena’s base variable has lowered to 5.64% p.a. (5.59% p.a. comparison rate*) – rates apply for 80% loan-to-value ratio (LVR) .
Unloan and Athena cut rates immediately
With the new lower rate coming into effect immediately, Unloan easily keeps its place on our list of top cheap home loans. It has one of the lowest variable rates in our database at the time of writing, and is only bested by Police Credit Union’s rate of 4.99% (5.04% p.a. comparison rate*).
How are the major banks responding to the cuts?
ANZ, CommBank, NAB and Westpac have all announced rate cuts are coming to their variable rate home loans, but customers will have to wait up to two weeks for the changes to come into effect.
ANZ and Commonwealth Bank will take 10 days to pass on the August cut to borrowers, while NAB is delaying its changes for 13 days and Westpac pushes it out to two weeks.
Even when the changes come into effect, customers with ANZ, CommBank and NAB need to put in a request online, in-app or over the phone to have their mortgage repayment adjusted, as these banks won’t do it automatically .
If you want to see which lenders have announced rate changes, check our RBA interest rate tracker for all the latest movements.
Could you be getting a better rate?
It’s worth remembering that even if your mortgage provider passes on a rate cut, you could still get a better deal by refinancing your home loan.
The average variable rate in our database is 6.13% p.a.† – not accounting for rate changes that have only been announced – and yet the lowest available is 4.99% p.a. (5.04% p.a. comparison rate*).
The difference between the average and the lowest is a hefty 1.14% p.a., and switching from the average rate to the lowest could slash $341 off your monthly repayments on a $500,000 loan ‡.
Take a look at our home loan comparison calculator to see how much you could save by switching to a lower rate.
† Source : Mozo database on 12 August, 2025. Average variable home loan interest rate for an owner occupier with <80% LVR, making principal and interest repayments over 25 years on a $500,000 home loan.
‡ Source : Mozo database on 12 August, 2025. Repayments calculated for a $500,000 home loan making principal and interest repayments over 25 years.