RATE RISES INEVITABLE

“For more than a year, we have seen the Reserve Bank of Australia leave the official cash rate on hold at 1.5 per cent,” Mortgage Choice chief executive officer John Flavell said.

“And while it made sense for the board to leave the cash rate untouched until now given the level of economic uncertainty, things are starting to improve across the globe.

“Indeed, over the last few months, we have seen significant improvements in both the domestic and global markets.

“Domestically, business conditions have shown signs of improvement, the unemployment rate has fallen to a low of 5.4 per cent, and property price growth has started to stagnate across some markets in line with expectations.

“With that in mind, it is only fair to assume that the next rate movement by the Reserve Bank of Australia could be up. “When exactly rates will rise is very much undetermined. “When asked what they thought would happen to interest rates throughout 2018, 52.5 per cent of Australians said interest rates would rise, albeit quite slowly. Meanwhile, a further 27.8 per cent said they expected the RBA to leave the cash rate on hold for another 12 months at least.

“Of course, as and when rates do rise, it is important for borrowers to remember that mortgage rates are still low by long-term standards.

“Furthermore, Australia’s lenders remain hungry for business, which is good news for anyone still yet to achieve their home-ownership goals.”