NAB hikes rates as cash rate fears rise

BANKING giant NAB has raised fixed rates for the fourth time this year by up to 0.60 percentage points for owneroccupiers and up to 0.75 percentage points for investors.

Australia’s third largest home loan lender NAB is now offering fixed rates on oneyear to five-year loans within a range of 2.99 per cent to 4.99 per cent.

RateCity.com.au research director Sally Tindall says NAB has now hiked some fixed rates by almost 3 percentage points in the past year.

“Twelve months ago, noone would have predicted fixed rates would soar this high this fast,” she says. “These fixed rate hikes are a sign of things to come. Record-low variable rates are also about to be relegated to the history books, although the variable hikes might not be as severe.”

It comes as Westpac has forecast that the Reserve Bank will lift the cash rate by 40 basis points to 0.5 per cent in June.

Westpac economist Bill Evans is predicting inflation to rise to 3.4 per cent and employment to fall from 4 per cent in March to 3.8 per cent in April.