Borrowers have continued to turn their backs on fixed-rate mortgages, with variable-rate loans accounting for almost nine in 10 broker-originated home loans in the June quarter, according to Australian Finance Group data.
Aggregator Australian Finance Group’s (AFG) latest Mortgage Index found variable-rate products accounted for 87.5 per cent of all broker-originated home loan lodgements in the June quarter, up from 86.5 per cent in the previous quarter and 87.2 per cent in the same period last year.
Fixed-rate lending, meanwhile, fell to 3.8 per cent, reversing the increase to 5.4 per cent recorded in the March quarter but up from 2.3 per cent in the June 2025 quarter.
These figures reinforce the longer-term trend away from fixed-rate lending, which peaked at more than 38 per cent of broker lodgements in 2021 and early 2022 before steadily declining as the interest rate cycle turned.
Fixed-rate loans now account for less than one in every 25 mortgages written through AFG brokers.
The dominance of variable rates was driven by standard variable loans.
Basic variable loans remained broadly stable at 4.2 per cent of the market, while introductory-rate and equity products continued to account for almost no new lending (0 per cent and 0.1 per cent, respectively).
Lenders readjust
AFG’s data comes as many lenders reassess their fixed variable rate positions.
ING has become the latest lender to cut fixed mortgage rates, reducing interest rates by between 0.10 and 0.20 percentage points across a range of new owner-occupied principal-and-interest home loans.
These adjustments form a broader wave of mortgage repricing.
As reported by Broker Daily sister brand The Adviser, Canstar identified 18 lenders that reduced at least one variable home loan rate, despite the Reserve Bank of Australia’s May cash rate increase.
Five lenders have also lowered fixed rates, with AMP Bank making the largest move by cutting selected fixed terms by up to 50 basis points.
Forty lenders are now offering at least one variable rate below 6 per cent, while 15 advertise a variable rate below 5.90 per cent.
Bumper quarter for AFG despite budget
Overall, AFG’s broker data found that the average loan size climbed to a record $727,345 in the June quarter, up 2.4 per cent from $710,388 in the previous quarter and 7.2 per cent from $678,333 a year earlier.
AFG brokers also lodged $28.1 billion in home loans during the quarter – the aggregator’s strongest June quarter on record and 1.4 per cent higher than the same period last year.
The number of lodgements, however, eased to 38,583 in the June quarter from the record 43,799 recorded in the first quarter of the 2026 financial year and the 40,810 in the same period last year.
According to AFG’s data, some segments of the market such as investors have lost momentum, while others such as first home buyers (FHB) have held steady.
The June quarter, however, saw a rate hike from the Reserve Bank and the announcement of the federal budget.
Data from other sources, such as that of Aussie Home Loans and Loan Market Group, have already reported declines in lodgements among investors and FHBs.
[Related: Upgraders drive record June quarter for AFG]
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