More than a million Australian families face mortgage crisis as RBA rate hike looms

A looming rate hike at the September RBA meeting could spell disaster for more than a million families, according to new research. An exclusive survey by Money.com.au revealed 39 per cent of mortgage holders weren’t confident they could continue to afford home loan repayments if interest rates were to rise again. A worrying 9 per cent of the homeowners said they’d have to seriously consider selling their properties if their interest rate increased by the 0.25 per cent that the RBA is widely expected to hike by next week. MORE: Big bank exec reveals huge property power shift One in five said it would take two standard rate hikes, or 0.5 per cent, to force them to seriously consider selling. Another 15 per cent said it would take a full percentage point, or four hikes before they were in the same boat. The RBA is widely expected to raise rates in September. Picture: John Appleyard Money.com.au’s mortgage spokesman Nick Burgess said it was “alarming” that so many homeowners were dangerously close to a forced sale. He said that being stretched that close to a limit means there’s not much room to absorb another repayment shock. MORE:Thousands of home builds abandoned as rate hikes threa...