00:00For these punters at the Melbourne Cup, a lot was riding on the Reserve Bank's interest
00:07rate decision.
00:08We've probably had like a 45% increase on our weekly mortgage repayments.
00:12It's a lot harder these days now, with everything else going up, you know, food and fuel and
00:18all the bills and everything.
00:21Clearing the inflation barrier is no easy feat.
00:23I don't even know who won.
00:25The RBA Governor is more focused on tackling underlying inflation and still can't rule
00:30out a rate rise.
00:32We do think that there are still some risks on the upside.
00:36That's why I say we can't rule anything in or out.
00:39As expected, the Reserve Bank kept the cash rate on hold at 4.35%.
00:45What this means is that rates haven't gone up since last Melbourne Cup day.
00:49We are absolutely at the back of the pack in seeing reductions in interest rates.
00:53We've seen them in the US, in the UK, in Canada, New Zealand, Europe, elsewhere, but
00:58not in Australia.
01:00While we may be a laggard when it comes to interest rate cuts, rates here are still low
01:04compared to other nations like the US and New Zealand.
01:07And given the nation's leading economists are not expecting a rate cut by Christmas,
01:11borrowers will have to wait until next year for any mortgage relief.
01:15I still think first half of next year it's likely, but we shouldn't be holding our breath
01:21for a lot of interest rate cuts in Australia.
01:24I really don't think we can expect any rate relief from the RBA until about May of next year.
01:29The Governor wouldn't be drawn into forward guidance for next year.
01:32We will try to make sure that we're tuned in enough that if things start to turn down
01:37more than expected, that we're ready to act.
01:39But we don't know.
01:40With rates staying higher for longer, Australians with home loans are being advised to seek
01:45out a better deal.
01:47There are 34 different lenders offering at least one variable rate under that 6% mark,
01:52so it is well worth looking at the refinancing numbers.
01:56So it pays to switch lenders to minimise the mortgage pain.
Comments