10-year fixed mortgage rates

There are only a handful of 10-year fixed rate home loans in Australia. Fixing for a decade is very expensive and risky.

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Sarah Megginson

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Key takeaways

  • 10-year fixed home loans will keep your repayments the same for the next 10 years.
  • It is very rare to fix your home loan for longer than 5 years. Very few loans in Australia give you the option to fix for this long.
  • Fixing for 10 years means locking in a rate that's much higher than current averages. And if you need to break the loan the fee will be expensive.

What is a 10-year fixed rate home loan?

When you get a 10-year fixed rate home loan, you lock in the certainty of knowing that your interest rate and repayments will remain the same for 10 years.

After the 10 year term, the loan changes to a variable rate.

Can you pay a fixed rate loan off faster?

Most variable rate home loans enable borrowers to make extra repayments. Some fixed rate loans do too, but they usually have a cap of around $10,000 to $25,000 a year.

10 year fixed rate loans are rare and expensive
There are only 10 home loans in Finder's database with a fixed rate period of 10 years. Most of these are from ANZ. All of these loans have interest rates well above the average, some above 7%, making them expensive options. But that's the price you pay for a decade of certainty.
Source: Finder's home loan database

Pros and cons of a 10-year fixed rate home loan

Pros

  • Repayments won't change for 10 years. You can plan your budget effectively and you can even sign up for another fixed rate period at the end of the 10 years, if you wish.
  • Protected from rising interest rates. If the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) increases the cash rate, or your lender hikes up home loan interest rates, you don't have to worry.
  • Extra repayments. While fixed rate home loans don't normally offer much flexibility, you can still find loans that allow you to make some extra repayments, as well as loans that come with linked offset accounts.

Cons

  • No benefit when interest drops. If the RBA or your lender drops variable home loan interest rates, you don't benefit.
  • Break fees. If you decide to repay your loan ahead of schedule, or if you want to look for refinancing options, there's a good chance you'll have to pay considerably high exit fees.
  • No offset account. Fixed rates generally don't come with the option to add an offset account, which is one of the most useful home loan features.

How to compare long term fixed rate home loans

To make sure you get a great deal on a 10-year fixed rate loan, pay attention to the rate, the fees and the loans' features.

Focus on the following:

Interest rate

Look for a lower rate

The longer the fixed rate term, the higher the interest rate will be. So if you decide you want a 10-year fixed rate, compare your options to find a lower one.

Fees

Look for a loan with low fees

When some loans come with multiple fees and others almost none, a low-fee loan is a no-brainer.

A lower interest rate is more important, but low fees are another way to save on your loan costs.

Features

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. Especially as you won't be moving onto a variable rate any time soon.

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Our expert says: Should you fix your mortgage rate for 10 years?

"If you're fixing for 10 years you're basically committing to not moving house or refinancing for a decade, and are willing to miss out on a cheaper home loan rate and savings that come with repaying your loan faster. The upside? You can budget perfectly for your repayments each month. Personally I don't think it's worth it for almost any borrower, but this is entirely up to you."

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Senior Money Editor

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Sarah is the author of How to Raise Rich Kids. With over 20 years of experience in property, finance and investment journalism, she is a trusted expert whose insights regularly appear across television, radio and print media, including Sunrise, Channel 7 News, Bloomberg and Yahoo! Finance. She has previously served as managing editor for Your Investment Property and Australian Broker. Her expert advice has been shared in the media over 4,000 times. Sarah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and a Tier 1 Generic Knowledge certification, which complies with ASIC standards. See full bio

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Sarah has written 226 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Home loans
  • Personal finance
  • Budgeting and money-saving tips
  • Managing the cost of living
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2 Responses

    John's avatar
    JohnDecember 3, 2017

    Are there any 10 year fixed interest rates for an investor prefer interest only but i believe this is now not available must be p&i

      Anndy Lou's avatar
      AnndyDecember 3, 2017

      Hi John,

      Thanks for your question.

      We currently don’t feature a list of lenders that offer 10-year fixed interest home loans for investment.

      Alternatively, you may consider fixed-rate home loans. You can use our “advanced search” filter on the page to customize the listed lenders. The maximum term for a fixed-rate investment home loan that I can find on the page is 2 years.

      If you need assistance in finding a suitable home loan option, you may also get in touch with a mortgage broker.

      Cheers,
      Anndy

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