Despite the RBNZ holding the OCR steady in the last two Monetary Policy Statements (MPS), mortgage rates continue to rise.
The main driver of average fixed mortgage rates creeping higher across the board this month is a sharp rise in global interest rates, which have dragged New Zealand’s swap rates – a key determinant of mortgage lending rates – with them.
Continued volatility across the global economy can be felt particularly acutely in New Zealand, where our relatively small economic capacity and heavy reliance on international trade and capital flows.
Over the coming year, the RBNZ estimates that around 60 per cent of all fixed-rate mortgages are due to be repriced onto substantially higher borrowing rates.