Compare 3-year fixed rate home loans

How we calculate Home Loan Finder Scores

Read full methodology

What different scores mean

9+

Excellent

These home loans offer low costs, coupled with a host of features, giving the best overall value.

7+

Great

These home loans may have slightly higher interest rates or fewer features but overall, a competitive offering.

5+

Standard

Usually the home loans would offer above average rates. They may still include some competitive features.

0+

Basic

Higher costs and/or fewer features.

What is Finder Score?

The Finder Score crunches 7,000 home loans across 120+ lenders. It takes into account the product's interest rate, fees and features, as well as the type of loan eg investor, variable, fixed rate - this gives you a simple score out of 10.

To provide a Score, we compare like-for-like loans. So if you're comparing the best home loans for cashback, you can see how each home loan stacks up against other home loans with the same borrower type, rate type and repayment type. We also take into consideration the amount of cashback offered when calculating the Score so you can tell if it's really worth it.

Read the full Finder Score breakdown

This article was fact-checked and reviewed by Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon, an accredited and award-winning finance broker and industry mentor. Content has been updated for 2022.

Why should I fix my home loan rate for 3 years?

Three years is a long time, but not when you consider most home loans have 30-year terms. Three-year fixed rate loans appeal to some borrowers for the following reasons:

• Repayment certainty. Knowing your repayments won't change for 3 years means you can budget for your repayments and not get caught by rising rates.
• Forget about rate rises. Borrowers on variable rate home loans know that their home loan rate could rise at any time. With fixed rate loans you don't have to worry. For some borrowers this peace of mind is worth getting a slightly higher rate.
• Finding the right balance. Fixing for a short time means a locked-in interest rate, but fix for too long and you might have to pay an expensive break fee if you need to refinance or exit the loan. Anyone can get interest rate expectations wrong and you could be locked in for a longer term, paying over the odds. For some borrowers the 3-year fixed option is the perfect balance.

How do 3-year fixed rate home loans work?

A 3-year fixed rate home loan is like any other home loan: you borrow money and repay it over the loan term. But for the first 3 years of the loan your repayments will stay the same every month.

After the fixed period, your loan reverts to a variable rate loan. Variable interest rate home loans can change at any time as lenders respond to changes in money markets and the overall economy.

Most lenders offer fixed rates between 1 and 5 years. Learn more about different fixed periods with these guides:

• 1-year fixed rate loans
• 2-year fixed rate loans
• 4-year fixed rate loans
• 5-year fixed rate loans

Are 3-year fixed rate loans higher than variable rate loans?

While 3-year fixed rate home loans are usually higher than comparable variable rate home loans, many lenders have been cutting their fixed rates lately. Experts are predicting interest rates will start to fall in late 2024 or 2025, so borrowers are less likely to fix their rates at the moment. Many banks and lenders are responding to this by making their fixed rates lower than their variable rates.

3-year fixed interest rates are currently some of the lowest on the market.

Is it too late to lock in a low 3-year fixed rate?

A fixed rate loan is more about certainty than getting the lowest possible deal, especially now that fixed rates are higher. It's not necessarily too late, if your goal is to focus on peace of mind rather than getting the lowest and cheapest possible rate.

You can see the current difference between fixed and variable rates on our average interest rates guide.

How do I compare 3-year fixed rate home loans?

To make sure you get a great deal on a 3-year fixed rate loan, pay attention to the rate, the fees and the loans' features.

Focus on the following:

Get a lower rate

Even if fixed rates are higher than variable, it's important to compare multiple 3-year fixed rates to find a good deal. Why pay more interest for no reason?

Get a loan with low fees

Some home loans have lots of fees and others have none. A lower interest rate is more important, but the fewer the fees, the cheaper the loan will be.

Loan features

Fixed rate loans have fewer features than variable rate loans, like 100% offset accounts or the ability to make extra repayments. But some do, so it's worth comparing.

What kind of 3-year fixed rate home loans are available?

3-year fixed rate loans are a common home loan type. Both owner-occupiers and investors have a lot of loans to choose from.

Beyond the standard fixed rate principal-and-interest home loans, borrowers can also consider:

• Fixed rate package home loans.
• Fixed rate interest-only investor loans.
• Low deposit fixed rate home loans.
• Bad credit fixed rate home loans.

More questions about fixing your home loan rate for 3 years?

• Can I make extra repayments on a 3-year fixed rate?

  Most fixed rate loans don't let you make extra repayments. Some do, but charge an early repayment fee, while other loans limit the extra amount you can repay (usually to around $15,000 a year).

  If you want to pay off your loan faster, you should get a loan with an offset account or find a loan with unlimited extra repayments. This is probably a variable rate loan.

• Is now a good time to fix for 3 years?

  3-year fixed interest rates are some of the lowest on the market right now, as lenders try to entice borrowers with a lower rate before rates start falling. While this makes it a better time to fix your rate compared to the last couple of years when they've been much higher than variable rates, you need to ask yourself what rates might do next. Rates are expected to start going down, and if you lock in for 3 years you won't be able to take advantage of the lower rates on offer. At the same time, it's never easy to predict what rates will do at any time.

• How do I know when interest rates are going to rise?

  It's hard for the average person to understand interest rate moves. Lenders and banks are largely free to set their own rates on home loans, but they are guided by the broader economy and how easy (and cheap) it is for them to borrow the money to fund home loans.

  The Reserve Bank of Australia also plays a big role. The bank maintains the official cash rate, which sets a benchmark for the cost of institutions to lend and borrow money. When the cash rate goes up, lenders raise variable interest rates for borrowers. But they also start to raise fixed rate loans for new customers.

  Follow Finder's monthly cash rate predictions to find out where the experts think rates are heading.

• What's a split rate home loan?

  A split rate loan allows you to divide your loan into fixed and variable rate portions. This means you can lock in 50% of your loan for 3 years, and have the remaining 50% on a variable rate.

  A split rate lets you have the best of both worlds and is a way of hedging your bets if you're concerned about rate rises but still want the extra features and repayment options on a variable rate loan.

Written by

Richard Whitten

Editor

Richard Whitten is a money editor at Finder, and has been covering home loans, property and personal finance for 6+ years. He has written for Yahoo Finance, Money Magazine and Homely; and has appeared on various radio shows nationwide. He holds a Certificate IV in mortgage broking and finance (RG 206), a Tier 1 Generic Knowledge certification and a Tier 2 General Advice Deposit Products (RG 146) certification. See full bio

Richard's expertise

Richard has written 553 Finder guides across topics including:

• Home loans
• Property
• Personal finance
• Money-saving tips