‘Rate hike dodged’: Aussies get crucial mortgage reprieve

Househunters already struggling with getting into the market may find it harder if rates spike again. Aussie homeowners can breathe a sigh of relief after a key number came in below market expectations today – with bank competition even expected to see more home loan rates now fall. In a move that could accelerate mortgage relief, several lenders had already begun quietly trimming home loan rates ahead of new Australian Bureau of Statistics data, with Canstar revealing five banks cut 26 variable rates by an average of 0.11 per cent in the past week alone. Analysts expect this price war for quality borrowers to heat up further now that the threat of another central bank hike has eased. The market almost got to 50-50 on Friday and have come back a bit from a hike in August call. Source: ASX Fresh figures released Wednesday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveal the June quarter trimmed mean consumer price index – the Reserve Bank’s preferred measure of underlying inflation – rose 0.8 per cent quarter-on-quarter. Ahead of the data drop, economists at ANZ and financial markets had widely tipped a hotter 0.9 per cent quarterly jump, which would have put an August cash rate ...