There has been a spike in fixed-rate home loan applications since the interest rate rise earlier this month, according to financial comparison website RateCity.

Fixed home loan applications at www.ratecity.com.au jumped 41% in the week after the official cash rate moved 25 basis points to 3.25%, compared to the previous week.

“This shows there are many Australians out there who are paying a significant premium to fix their home loan rather than saving potentially thousands by comparing rates online,” said Damian Smith, RateCity’s CEO.

For the week ending October 12, 2009, fixed-rate home loan applications made up 22% of all home loan applications on RateCity, compared to only 13% percent during the prior seven days. RateCity also found that fixed loan applications were up 24% for the week ending October 19, compared to the week before the RBA rate rise.