At the end of the fixed rate period specified in the loan agreement, your interest rate will usually revert to a variable rate. Depending on how the lender’s rates have changed during the fixed rate period (probably in reaction to changes in the official cash rate set by the Reserve Bank of Australia), your new rate (usually the lender’s standard variable rate) may be either higher or lower than the one you were paying previously. You may be able to negotiate the new rate downwards if the rate first proposed by the lender seems too high. Another possibility is that you may be able to fix the interest rate for a further term with your current lender, if that suits you.