How to manage higher mortgage repayments

Following the RBA’s decision to increase the cash rate by 25 basis points to 0.35%, many banks have begun to increase their variable home loan rates.

If you have a variable home loan, chances are you might be seeing at least a 0.25% increase in the next couple of weeks. 

The increase might seem small but can potentially leave you short $1,000 a year.

Let’s look at the example below:

• If you have a variable interest rate of 1.99% p.a. for a $600,000 loan with a 25 year term. Then your mortgage repayment would be about $2,540 a month.

• With the 0.25% interest rate increase, your rate now sits at 2.24% p.a. making your monthly repayments go up to $2,614. That $74 difference is about $888 extra a year!

Now, while that might not seem like a big deal at a glance, that extra $888 could equal about two months of groceries, two to three months of car repayments, a budget for Christmas presents or a holiday to Fiji.

Related: What do higher interest rates mean for property prices?

Also, chances are that the 0.25% hike is not going to stop there. Mozo’s banking expert Peter Marshall believes that the cash rate might go up to 0.50% total. That would mean an extra 0.15% increase on the horizon.

• If you start with a 1.99% variable rate, your new rate might go to 2.39% p.a., making your monthly repayments go up to $2,659–an extra $119 a month. That’s about $1,428 extra out of your pocket annually.

If the increase has you nervous, we’ve got your back. We’ve gathered some tips on how to manage higher mortgage repayments.

Tips on managing a higher mortgage repayment

Rejig your budget

For starters, it might be time to take a good look at your budget and see where you can make cuts without making massive changes to your lifestyle. This could be reducing the number of times you get takeaway, unsubscribing to a streaming service you hardly use, or finding cheaper alternatives for your phone plan, broadband or energy bills.

Every little bit helps and if you can shave off more than you were expecting, it might be good to put in a high interest savings account.

Consider refinancing

If you’re displeased with your current interest rate consider trying to negotiate for a cheaper one with your lender. If that doesn’t work you can always switch to another lender. You can go to our refinancing comparison page to get you started.

Just keep in mind that refinancing may come with several upfront fees. Some to watch out for include: break fee, valuation fee and a new application fee.

Consider an offset account

An offset account is like an everyday bank account, but it's linked to your home loan. A big benefit of having an offset account is having the balance offset daily against the loan’s principal. This helps bring down the amount of interest you pay.

For more information, check out our home loan refinancing page for tips, guides and home loan comparisons. Alternatively, you can use our rate calculator to see how your repayments might increase.