We know that death and taxes are two of life’s unavoidable.  But for many, mortgage repayments are also an unavoidable.  This is why so many of us become glued to the TV screen waiting for announcements on interest rates.

We are continually being told that, at some point in the future, interest rates will go up.  But what we really want to know is ‘when will interest rates go up?’ and ‘by how much?’

Having read recent statements from the Reserve Bank and market economists, I reckon the answer is interest rates won’t be going up in the imminent future and when they do eventually go up, they won’t go up by much.

If you look at the Reserve Bank’s website www.rba.gov.au its recent statements are particularly instructive.  On 7 June it said “Growth in credit to households [on the other hand] has softened, as have housing prices. “  So the RBA Board concluded “that the current mildly restrictive stance of monetary policy remained appropriate.”  That does not tell me that the RBA is in a rush to increase interest rates.

Similarly on 21 June the RBA said “further tightening in monetary policy would be necessary at some point. Members considered, however, that the flow of data over the past month had not added any urgency to the need for an adjustment to policy.”  These are hardly the words of a trigger-happy reserve bank about to spray us with the silver bullets that will slay the inflation dragon.

I regularly talk to real estate agents about what is happening in the market – and the answer seems to be ‘nothing much.’  If a property market is not too hot, not too cold, don’t expect to see huge interest rate rises soon.