Some interesting new data sheds interesting light on the eternal debate over whether to have a variable or fixed home loan. 

Reserve Bank of Australia data for August shows owner-occupiers on three year fixed loans were paying on average, 1.26 percentage points less than those on the discounted variable rate.

However, as the graph shows, these things move in cycles. The gap between fixed and variable rates might start closing, with the Reserve Bank signalling it will start increasing official interest rates once the economy strengthens.