MORTGAGE RATES: THE ONLY WAY IS UP

Mortgages are moving on up The rock-bottom rates, which offered a sweetener for those buying in the boiling market of late 2020-2021, have departed And investors with mortgages will soon start to feel the pinch.

According to CoreLogic data, around 50 per cent of mortgages will be up for refinancing in the next 12 months. With rates now at the 6 per cent-plus range for two-year fixed, repayments will be significantly higher.

This, coupled with the removal of interest deductibility and the ongoing costs around Healthy Homes compliance, will see investor expenditure head steadily upwards.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Mortgage rates aren’t particularly high in a historic sense; one-year rates are actually below their 2005-2019 averages of 6.14 per cent. However, this is the fastest six-month increase in mortgage rates since at least 2005, and it’s happening at a time when household debt is at record levels relative to income.