Mortgage brokers face a tougher conversation with first-home buyers and property investors as fixed mortgage rates move higher ahead of next week’s RBA Board meeting.
According to Canstar’s latest Weekly Rate Wrap-up, 12 lenders have increased 263 owner-occupier and investor fixed rates by an average of 0.24%, while three lenders have lifted 13 variable rates by an average of 0.22%.
The repricing comes on top of already elevated mortgage rates. The average variable rate for owner-occupiers paying principal and interest now sits at 6.17%, while the sharpest variable deal in the market is 5.19% from LCU.
There are just five variable rates below 5.25% remaining on Canstar’s database, underscoring how limited low‑rate options have become for borrowers’ refinancing and borrowing capacity strategies.
Summerland Bank was one of the few outliers, trimming two investor fixed rates by 0.05%, but the broader trend is clearly upward.
Canstar insights director Sally Tindall said lenders are moving in anticipation of potential RBA action.
“Fixed rates continue to push north in the lead up to next week’s RBA Board meeting, with 12 lenders hiking 263 rates." she said.
She noted this pattern often emerges before a possible cash rate move, commenting that “While this is highly typical in the lead up to a rate hike decision, particularly when inflation is running hot and the governor has said every meeting is “live””.
At the same time, conflict in the Middle East is adding another layer of uncertainty, with rising oil prices threatening to push local inflation higher and complicating RBA’s decision. RBA governor Michele Bullock has warned that higher oil and energy prices stemming from the conflict could both intensify inflationary pressures and weigh on global growth.
Tindall warned that RBA is weighing multiple risks, from “household card spending just hit a record high” to the Middle East crisis and its potential impact on inflation, markets, and jobs, making the policy path less predictable and keeping mortgage rate volatility in focus.
If higher fuel prices persist, household budgets could face pressure from both rising petrol costs and higher mortgage repayments, which can act much like an additional rate rise even if the cash rate stays on hold.
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