Homeowners with a $150,000 mortgage could save almost $100 a month off their repayments after yesterday’s larger-than-expected cut.

The Reserve Bank lowered the official cash rate by 1 per cent to 4.25 per cent, giving homeowners the lowest rates since late 2001.

The Commonwealth Bank and National Bank announced they would pass on the full cut, lowering their rates to 6.74 per cent, but Westpac and ANZ said they would lower the rate by 0.8 per cent.

Border lenders WAW and Hume Building Society are yet to make a decision.

And the low mark for interest rates is unlikely to have been reached with financial market economists saying official rates could fall to 3 per cent by March next year.

Albury-Wodonga motorists are also enjoying a huge drop in petrol prices, with the cost for unleaded having fallen from 169.9 cents per litre in July to 107.5 cents at Apco in North Albury yesterday.

One of the Border’s leading retailers yesterday predicted greater sales before Christmas.

Geoff Haberecht, of Haberecht’s Home Electrix, said sales had swelled since last month’s cuts and expected the trend to continue with the Government’s pre-Christmas bonus for pensioners and parents which will kick in on Monday.

“It should make a very positive impact,” he said.

Hume Building Society chief executive officer Andrew Saxby said the board will meet on Monday to decide what savings will be passed on.

“It’s not a total surprise, but (the cuts) are at the upper end of where people were thinking,” Mr Saxby said.

“This one is really going to impact on some depositor members because anyone with $100,000 deposit, if we pass on the full cut, is about $83 a month.”

WAW chief executive officer Peter Challis also welcomed the rate cut but was similarly concerned for self-funded retirees.

“We have to balance up the needs of our depositors as well as our lenders,” he said.

“WAW members currently enjoy 63 basis point below that of the major banks for the standard variable rates, so we’ve looked after our members when interest rates have gone up and we’re looking after them when they go down.”