'Interest rates aren't coming down any time soon': Canberra Times reporters analysis of August rate freeze

The RBA has decided to pause rate rises at 4.1 per cent for the second consecutive month.

Transcript

00:00 Well we've just heard that the RBA has decided to hold the cash rate again for a second consecutive

00:05 month at 4.1%.

00:08 So Adrian, was that an expected move by the Central Bank?

00:11 Yes, look the markets and a lot of economists were tipping exactly that outcome and it is

00:19 an interesting decision because it's the second time in two months that they've decided to

00:25 pause and that will obviously be of great relief for a lot of mortgage holders.

00:33 But the big caveat on that decision was the possibility of more rate hikes depending on

00:40 how inflation and wages and the global economy all pan out.

00:47 Yep, so it's possibly not the end of the rate rise cycle yet.

00:51 Unfortunately not, but there are hopeful signs that we are, if not at the peak, very close

00:58 to the peak of interest rates.

01:00 Yeah, well I think homeowners are certainly feeling a sigh of relief this month.

01:05 But I mean even just speaking to some of the buyers out there yesterday, I spoke to a first

01:09 home buyer who was pretty relieved.

01:12 She actually did fix her mortgage as a 6.6% interest rate, so quite high, but she said

01:18 that she was feeling a bit of peace of mind that she had fixed it in for the possibility

01:23 of future rate rises.

01:25 And there are obviously going to be a lot of people who are currently on fixed rates

01:30 which are going to expire soon, so they're facing a significant increase in their repayments.

01:37 Absolutely, and that's something that experts and economists are certainly concerned about,

01:41 that there was something like more than 800,000 fixed rates expected to end this year, in

01:48 2023.

01:49 So there will be people who are facing some really high mortgage rates this year, so it

01:53 will be I guess a bit of a wait and see as to what impact that has on them as homeowners

01:58 and the economy.

01:59 Yeah, and from what I can tell, it sounds like the interest rates aren't going to be

02:05 coming down anytime soon.

02:06 Yeah.

02:07 Absolutely.

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