Interest rates should now stay on hold for some time after the latest increase by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Tuesday, a mortgage broker says.

The RBA raised the cash rate by 25 basis point to 3.5 per cent following Tuesday’s board meeting, following a similar increase last month.

Loan Market Group executive chairman Sam White said the RBA has responded to Australia’s strong economic performance.

“By getting in early they are solving any possible inflation pressures,” Mr White said in a statement.

“It means we’re going to have fewer rate rises in the future and this rise hopefully should be the last for some time to come.”
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One in five homeowners would consider renting out a spare room to help pay the mortgage in increasingly difficult economic times, a new survey has found.

The poll by real estate agency PRDnationwide also found 14 per cent of respondents already had someone renting a room and another 15 per cent would do so if they had the space.

PRDnationwide research director Jonathan Rivera said the results were not surprising given the present economic climate.

“Having someone contributing $100 a week to rent a spare room could be the difference of struggling with bills or not,” he said.
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