Homeowners looking to remortgage and first-time buyers struggled to manage interest rate hikes in 2023. Here’s what to think about this year.
Academic rigor, journalistic flair
Articles on Mortgage rates
Displaying 1 - 20 of 32 articles
A lot of Australians are hoping there might be an interest rate cut at the next Reserve Bank board meeting but they shouldn’t hold their breath.
Australian financial markets are now pointing to a close to zero chance of further rate rises – with a fair chance of a rate cut next year. That’s thanks to the latest news from the US and UK.
Central banks balance different factors when raising rates – or not – including inflation and the labour market. But what other countries are doing also has an effect.
Complaints that our recommendations would weaken the Reserve Bank governor ignore the fact that outsiders already control the board. We just want them do it better.
The way banks calculate interest means that Australian borrowers who sign up to pay 5.95% per annum pay something closer to 6.11%.
We hear a lot about the negative impact of rate rises on mortgage repayments while little is made of the benefits of high interest rates.
Australian home borrowers are experiencing much, much more interest rate pain than borrowers in New Zealand, Canada, the UK or US – for one simple reason.
The good news includes a return to real wage growth and a restrained increase in unemployment. The bad news includes even higher home prices and a per-capita recession.
Interest rate hikes are the Bank of England’s main monetary policy weapon against inflation, but they aren’t working.
The Reserve Bank governor has only three months left in the job and he isn’t yet sure inflation is on the way down.
More than one million borrowers are set to come off ultra-low fixed mortgage rates this year and next, meaning the full effect of the ten rate rises to date is yet to be felt.
UK borrowers are expecting mortgage rates to fall again. Here’s why this looks unlikely in the current economic environment.
I graphed the average online rate for a $10,000 deposit against the Reserve Bank’s cash rate, going back to 2010. After seeing what that graph reveals, you’ll want to call your bank.
Reserve Bank of Australia governor Philip Lowe is unrepentant about the prospect of further interest-rate rises. In fact, he says there’s a risk the bank is not doing enough.
The cost of borrowing for a home has fallen in recent months, despite repeated increases of the benchmark interest rate. An economist explains the seeming paradox.
While authorities such as the Reserve Bank often see them as risky, interest-only loans can be helpful in some circumstances.
Banks typically do not want their customers to default on property and have processes in place to help reduce the risk of this happening.
Never, in the three decades the Reserve Bank has been targeting inflation, has it been tested by prices rising in unison like this.
Because housing is sensitive to changes in borrowing costs, it can tell policymakers and consumers a lot about whether the Fed’s plan is working.
Top contributors
-
Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
-
Lecturer in Economics, Monash University
-
Associate Professor in Economics, University of Leeds
-
Senior Lecturer, Canberra School of Politics, Economics and Society, University of Canberra
-
Professor of Banking and Finance, Brunel University London
-
Program Director, Economic Policy, Grattan Institute
-
Lecturer of Economics and Finance Tasmanian School of Business & Economics, University of Tasmania
-
Senior Lecturer in Finance, University of Sydney
-
Associate Professor of Finance, Mississippi State University
-
Deputy Program Director, Economic Policy, Grattan Institute
-
Emeritus Professor of Finance, The University of Melbourne
-
Senior Lecturer in Economics, The Open University
-
Senior Lecturer, School of Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, UNSW Sydney
-
Lecturer, School of Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, UNSW Sydney
-
Professor of Economics, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
