By Steve Chin · April 2026 · 5 min read
With the rate cycle potentially turning, the fix-or-variable question is top of mind for every borrower. The honest answer is: it depends on your situation, not on what we think rates will do.
Nobody — not your broker, not economists, not the RBA itself — can predict exactly where rates will be in 12 months. What we can do is help you understand the trade-offs and make a decision that suits your financial position and your tolerance for uncertainty.
Fixing is right for you if you need certainty — if your budget is tight and a rate increase would cause genuine financial stress. It is also sensible if you are stretching to buy and want to protect your repayment for the first few years while your income catches up to your commitment.
Fixing is not about getting the lowest possible rate. It is about removing risk from your financial plan.
If you have financial buffer — savings, an offset account, income growth — staying variable gives you the benefit of each rate cut as it happens. You also retain full flexibility: unlimited extra repayments, full offset access, and the ability to refinance without break costs if a better offer emerges.
Most borrowers we work with choose a split — typically fixing 40–60% for certainty and keeping the rest variable for flexibility and offset access. This approach means you are never completely right or completely wrong about the direction of rates.
We model fixed, variable and split scenarios using your actual loan numbers — not generic examples. Book a free chat and see the real dollar difference for your situation.
Not necessarily. Fixed rates are forward-looking — they reflect where lenders expect rates to go. If the market has already priced in expected cuts, the current fixed rate may still be competitive. The question is whether you value certainty over flexibility. Lendology can show you the exact dollar difference between fixing and staying variable for your loan.
Yes — a split loan lets you fix a portion and keep the rest variable. This gives you certainty on the fixed portion and flexibility on the variable portion including offset access and unlimited extra repayments. Most lenders allow splits, and Lendology structures these regularly.
You continue paying the fixed rate for the agreed term. If rates fall below your fixed rate, you pay more than you would on a variable rate — but you had certainty the entire time. Breaking a fixed rate early incurs a break cost that can be significant. This is why the decision should be based on your need for certainty, not a rate prediction.