While the comparison rate can be a useful tool, Your Mortgage has gone even further and developed its own method to uncover the true cost of a mortgage.

The team at Your Mortgage has worked out the 'true cost' of all 171 (38 bank products and 133 non-bank) fixed rate loan products in our books by taking into account each and every fee, including upfront, ongoing and deferred establishment fees as at 22 February 2008. Please note that the rates are taken before the RBA raised rates by 0.25% on 5 March.

By working out how much a given loan will cost you after a range of time periods - three, five and 10 years - we show you the impact that these fees can have on the total cost of your mortgage. By adding all fees to the cost of principal and interest (P&I), we calculate the true cost of a mortgage over three, five and 10 years. This month, we based our calculation on a loan amount of $300,000 at 80% LVR taken over 30 years.
 
And the winner is...
The Editor's Choice award for the overall best value three-year fixed loan in the bank category goes to the ING three-year fixed product offering the highest average saving of $3,000 after three years, compared to the average loan in our database.

It has a competitive interest rate of 8.44% as at 22 February, which then reverts to an even lower 8.29% after the fixed term. The product also features low upfront fees of $719 plus a $600 exit fee.

One Direct's three-year fixed product took the top spot in the three-year category for non-banks, thanks to its competitive interest rate of 8.19%, which reverts to 8.11% after the fixed term. Despite the hefty $1,150 exit fees if you break the contract, borrowers can still save up to $7,508 after three years compared to the average loan in our book.

For the complete list of top ranking fixed rate loans, read the latest issue of Your Mortgage, on sale now.

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