Fear of rate rises and rental squeezes
Despite the global credit crunch, rising house prices and home loan affordability problems, 83 per cent of Australians are confident that the country’s economy will be strong during 2008.
This is the key finding of Mortgage Choice’s latest consumer sentiment survey conducted earlier this month with 1,002 participants, 90 per cent of who are property owners.
However, the annual survey also revealed that rising interest rates remain the biggest concern, with 45 per cent of respondents attesting to this.
An overwhelming majority (92 per cent) also believe that interest rates will rise in the first quarter of 2008 — a situation that 25 per cent of those with a mortgage said they could not afford.
Almost half of the respondents (44 per cent) said they were planning to invest in property next year; however, the majority would need to make sacrifices to do so, such as cutting back on spending or buying a less expensive property.
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