{"id":713632,"date":"2026-06-04T00:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T00:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/713632\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T00:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T00:18:10","slug":"top-economist-warns-mortgage-holders-to-brace-for-two-more-rate-hikes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/713632\/","title":{"rendered":"Top economist warns mortgage holders to brace for two more rate hikes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">One of Australia\u2019s top economists has warned mortgage holders to brace for more pain, tipping two further interest rate hikes and the first broad fall in national home prices in years. AMP chief economist Shane Oliver says cracks are emerging in a three\u2011decade housing \u2018super cycle\u2019 as higher rates and looming tax changes start to bite.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">Oliver defines a housing super cycle as a 20 to 40 year period of sustained price growth. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">He says Australia\u2019s recent upswing was powered by falling interest rates and expanding credit, strong population growth, tight supply, investor tax breaks and the rise of dual\u2011income households.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">That engine is now sputtering. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">MORE NEWS<\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.realestate.com.au\/news\/calls-for-radical-twotier-mortgage-system-to-help-australian-homeowners\/?campaignType=external&amp;campaignChannel=syndication&amp;campaignName=ncacont&amp;campaignContent=&amp;campaignSource=newscomau&amp;campaignPlacement=realestatemodule\" title=\"www.realestate.com.au\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">We tax the rich more \u2013 so why not for mortgages too?<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.realestate.com.au\/news\/shamefully-exploited-veterans-forced-to-pay-100000-extra-on-home-loans\/?campaignType=external&amp;campaignChannel=syndication&amp;campaignName=ncacont&amp;campaignContent=&amp;campaignSource=the_advertiser&amp;campaignPlacement=article\" title=\"www.realestate.com.au\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Exposed: Diggers slugged $100k \u2018tax on service\u2019 for home loans<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.realestate.com.au\/news\/tradie-apprentice-reveals-thousands-in-tool-costs-turning-people-from-industry\/?campaignType=external&amp;campaignChannel=syndication&amp;campaignName=ncacont&amp;campaignContent=&amp;campaignSource=the_advertiser&amp;campaignPlacement=article\" title=\"www.realestate.com.au\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tradie reveals shocking barrier to housing crisis fix<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">Speaking to the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.com\/news\/article-15869047\/shane-oliver-housing-super-cycle-warning-rates-tax-changes.html?ito=push-notification&amp;ci=PKFFT2Mzyh&amp;cri=z1Mq_HgF8C&amp;si=sYhXyPNtCNRW&amp;xi=a5522c34-a8aa-4b1c-b84d-5e0159a41701&amp;ai=15869047\" title=\"www.dailymail.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"> Daily Mail<\/a>, Oliver argues the cycle is under pressure from higher long\u2011term rates, worsening affordability, tighter tax concessions for investors and a policy tilt towards lower immigration \u2013 a mix he says could threaten to end decades of house price gains.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">\u201cAfter 8.9 per cent growth in 2025 we now anticipate a fall in national average home prices of around 1 per cent this year and 5 per cent over 2026\u201327,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" class=\"styles__StyledImage-sc-17n6uwl-1 hlcJVa size-full wp-post-1133218 wp-image-1133212\" loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1133212\" data-capiid=\"ac96f5bad67170bee7f4781a02a0cfd9\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=&quot;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&quot; viewBox=&quot;0 0 1280 720&quot;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\"  alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1133212\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">AMP chief economist Shane Oliver.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">While price falls could spell good news for home buyers, mortgage holders could brace for more financial pain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">Oliver expects the Reserve Bank to deliver two more hikes, lifting the cash rate to a 4.85 per cent peak. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">On a $600,000 mortgage, he estimates that would add about $200 a month in repayments. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">For borrowers with $600,000 outstanding and 25 years remaining, the three hikes already delivered in 2026 have increased monthly repayments by $272 since January.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">A further two hikes would see mortgage holders pay almost $500 more than they did at the start of the year. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">\u201cThe RBA has raised rates three times back to their prior 2023 cycle high. While it\u2019s likely to leave rates on hold this month we expect another hike in August,\u201d Oliver said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">The affordability squeeze is front and centre in his call. <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"styles__StyledImage-sc-17n6uwl-1 hlcJVa size-full wp-post-1133218 wp-image-1133213\" loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1133213\" data-capiid=\"ca200a6339b45414a2267555ec2fde5f\" width=\"948\" height=\"597\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=&quot;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&quot; viewBox=&quot;0 0 948 597&quot;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\"  alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1133213\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Australian dwelling price growth.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">He notes the ratio of home prices to wages and incomes is at record highs, and rising mortgage rates are widening the gap between what buyers can pay and current asking prices. Confidence has slumped and perceptions of whether it\u2019s a good time to buy have deteriorated.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">Still, he stops short of calling time on the super cycle. <\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">Oliver stresses that a crash would require widespread forced selling, which he sees as unlikely without a sharp rise in unemployment. <\/p>\n<p><img class=\"styles__StyledImage-sc-17n6uwl-1 hlcJVa size-full wp-post-1133218 wp-image-1133214\" loading=\"eager\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1133214\" data-capiid=\"92a64c690fbc5c02af17100121f34160\" width=\"1280\" height=\"720\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns=&quot;http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg&quot; viewBox=&quot;0 0 1280 720&quot;%3E%3C\/svg%3E\"  alt=\"Further Interest Rate rise to cause financial pain for families. Killarney Vale family: Doug and Melissa Taylor and sons Liam 8 and Joel 10, are paying interest only on their mortgage.\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-1133214\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Further Interest Rate rises will cause financial pain for a Killarney Vale family.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">\u201cCalls for an imminent end to the property super cycle need to be treated with some caution though,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">\u201cI thought it might be close to over five years ago, but it was extended by a surge in immigration coming out of the pandemic and constrained home building resulting in a chronic undersupply of housing.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Text__Typography-sc-1103tao-0 bjGYxJ StyledP-sc-cebixd-0 bzEerj\">\u201cA crash would require wide scale forced selling by homeowners \u2013 but without much higher unemployment forcing homeowners to sell this is unlikely as Australians will do whatever they can to keep servicing their mortgage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of Australia\u2019s top economists has warned mortgage holders to brace for more pain, tipping two further interest&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":713633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[64,63,99,164],"class_list":["post-713632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-economy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=713632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/713632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/713633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=713632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=713632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=713632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}