Nadine Higgins

It's been so interesting to talk to you.

Really appreciate your time.

Thanks for joining us on The Prosperity Project.

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Kia ora, I'm Nadine Higgins and welcome to The Prosperity Project.

Banks are starting to push up interest rates, even though the Reserve Bank hasn't yet hiked the official cash rate.

So has the next interest rate hiking cycle started already?

And if so, what do you need to know to ensure you and your mortgage are ready for it?

Adam Clark is a mortgage advisor at Squirrel Mortgages, and he's with us on the Prosperity Project.

Hi Adam, welcome to the Prosperity Project.

Why are the banks hiking rates now when the Reserve Bank hasn't done anything yet?

Right.

So this is the market signal.

Expect the interest rates hiking cycle to begin.

Yeah, condom makers even put up their prices because it is, exactly, it's part of that process.

I don't want to go down too deep in economic analysis well with you, but some people might say, aren't those higher prices already putting a squeeze on businesses and households and doing some of the work of slowing things down and avoiding the ability to be able to hike prices?

Why do we need higher interest rates as well?

Yeah, they don't have to worry about unemployment anymore, do they?

Because I guess what some people will remember viscerally from the last interest rate hiking cycle is they went up fast.