More Australian home owners will be hit with higher mortgage rates with expectations two of Australia's big banks will follow the interest rate hikes of rivals CBA and Westpac.
Australia's largest home lender has announced it will lift its standard variable mortgage rate for owner-occupiers by 0.15 percentage points to 5.6 per cent on November 20.
Thursday's decision followed Westpac's move to raise its standard variable rate by 0.2 percentage points to 5.68 per cent, also from November 20.
The changes mean owner-occupiers with a $300,000 loan will fork out an extra $27 a month in repayments.
The hikes are being made to help cover the cost of new requirements for the banks to hold more capital to absorb possible loses and make their businesses more secure.
Following the move, ANZ said it did not speculate on future rate moves, while National Australia Bank declined to comment - but both have also recently raised billions of dollars in new capital.
CBA's move has added to expectations of a Melbourne Cup Day Reserve Bank rate cut, causing an immediate dip in the Australian dollar.
Rising interest rates come as the property market boom shows signs of ending.
Melbourne and Sydney, the nation's heavy lifters, reported sharp declines in the rate of price growth in the September quarter, with most other capitals also recording weakening market activity, according to Domain's September House Price Report.
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