Mortgage belt hoping lower inflation heralds rate cut

Adrian Black |

Mortgage holders and economists await price data expected to lower the annual inflation rate.
Mortgage holders and economists await price data expected to lower the annual inflation rate.

More relief could be in sight for mortgage-holders as an expected slowdown in inflation paves the way for a second interest rate cut.

Economists and market analysts widely tip official data on Wednesday to show core inflation falling faster than Reserve Bank of Australia forecasts.

The trimmed mean, the central bank’s preferred inflation measure, is expected to come in at 0.6 per cent for the March quarter in the Australian Bureau of Statistics numbers.

That would bring annual inflation below three per cent for the first time since December 2021, and the predicted 2.8 per cent inflation result would arrive three months ahead of Reserve Bank forecasts.

Energy bill
Energy bill rebates continue to distort the headline inflation readout, a prominent economist says. (Jono Searle/AAP PHOTOS)

Headline inflation was expected to fall from 2.4 to 2.3 per cent, which sits at the lower end of the central bank’s target range, but the measure was still being distorted by energy bill rebates, BetaShares chief economist David Bassanese said.

“We’ve seen a moderation in housing costs, with a flattening-off of rents and housing construction costs over the last six months or so, and we’ve also seen slowing wages growth filtering through to service sector inflation,” he told AAP.

“They’re the two key underlying drivers of the disinflation trend.”

In December, the Reserve Bank cut the cash rate for the first time in four years, from 4.35 per cent to 4.10 per cent.

If passed on to borrowers in full, each 25 basis point cut saves about $103 per month on an average home loan of $640,000.

Person jogs past the Reserve Bank of Australia building
Many economists and analysts predict interest rate cuts in 2025 starting in May. (Bianca De Marchi/AAP PHOTOS)

Mr Bassanese, along with many other economists and analysts, expects another 25 basis point rate cut in May and two more by the end of 2025.

Ahead of the figures and Saturday’s federal election, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has touted his government’s record on the economy and lowering inflation “substantially”.

But the coalition points to an International Monetary Fund report that lifted its 2025 inflation forecast for Australia to 2.5 per cent, up from two per cent.

“Labor has not beaten inflation and Labor won’t beat inflation, because they will not cut waste; they will not slash red tape; they will not make it easier for businesses to invest to boost growth,” shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said.

AAP