Originally published: realestate.com.au, 28 January 2026
Mortgage holders are bracing for an imminent rate hike, after the December CPI numbers landed at a piping hot 3.8 per cent, with a trimmed mean of 3.3 per cent, moving further away from the RBA’s preferred target band of 2-3 per cent.
Markets had already priced in a 56 per cent chance of a February rate hike before these numbers dropped and the case to act will only become more urgent when RBA Governor Michele Bullock and her board meet next week.
Canstar data insights director Sally Tindall said the RBA will want to do what is needed to get inflation under control, after the battle has dragged on longer than anticipated.
“It’s been four long years of high inflation and that will be weighing on the RBA,” Ms Tindall said. “They know they need to get this done.”
The survey of more than 1000 Aussies, commissioned from Pureprofile, also revealed that 56 per cent of homeowners planned to keep rates on variable and ride out the uncertainty, but for context, the ‘normal’ level of fixed loans in Australia has been less than 5 per cent of new and refinanced mortgages over the past two years, according to ABS and bank data.
