Geelong rates pain revealed as mortgage payments rise again

Geelong borrowers mortgage bills have climbed up to $3000 a month as the Reserve Bank raised interest rates for the 13th time since last year. See how it hits your suburb.

This Pinto Way, Highton, house sold for $935,000 recently.

Geelong borrowers mortgage repayments have climbed as much as $3000 a month since last year, after the Reserve Bank of Australia this week raised interest rates for the 13th time.

The analysis by PropTrack shows Tuesday’s .25 percentage point increase would add between $60 and $230 a week to average loan repayments.

The analysis, which is based on each suburb’s median house price, shows repayments had increased around $1300 a month across the Geelong region since the Reserve Bank started raising rates last year.

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The suburb breakdown shows repayments had climbed between $730 a month since April, 2022 in Norlane, where the median house price is now $450,000, up to $3540 a month in Anglesea.

The average increase across Geelong is close to $100.

PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore said households with lower incomes would feel the pain of rising interest rates worst.

PropTrack senior economist Angus Moore said while areas with higher property prices would see bigger increases in repayments, that wasn’t an indication of where the pain would be felt most.

“These areas tend to be home to more affluent homeowners who probably have a bit more capacity to juggle that budget to accommodate it,” Mr Moore said.

“Some of those lower income households, where they have much less discretionary spending to juggle is where you might expect to see in some of the real pain.”

Mr Moore said economic data showed people were pulling back particularly retail spending, although the number of people falling behind on their mortgages remained below pre-pandemic levels.

Barry Plant executive director Mike McCarthy said the latest rate hike would have the most impact at the more affordable end of the market for people on tighter budgets.

“Every quarter of a per cent is significant,” Mr McCarthy said.

This Robin Ave, Norlane, house sold for $405,000 recently.

But it could also have a flow-on effect for the property market.

“There is extra stock on the market at the moment … and heading into Christmas I think there’s likely to be continued strong stock levels which will mean more choice for buyers,” Mr McCarthy said.

“Behind the scenes people are probably trying to avoid defaulting on their mortgage or having to sell, so they’re returning to principal payments for a bit to take the pressure off in the short term.”

Wait and see: Hayeswinckle agent Matthew Roberts said the impact of the rates hike on the market would be evident in the next few weeks.

The impact on the Geelong property market would be felt over the coming weeks, Hayeswinckle agent Matthew Roberts said, even though most people knew it was coming.

While interest rates had increased, house prices had retreated 10 per cent over the same time, he said.

“It’s a long-term proposition for a lot of people, so I’m hoping we’re not too shortsighted,” Mr Roberts said.

“The market has pulled back so with better value-for-money now it actually makes sense.

“When the market pulls back 10 per cent, that’s quite a significant amount, even on $600,000.”

Originally published as Geelong rates pain revealed as mortgage payments rise again