Debt consolidation — true cost, policy, and refinance paths

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Automated roll-up of published posts matching Refinancing · Strategy categories (newest first).

• Should you put credit card debt on your home loan? Debt consolidation in Australia (2026)

  Refinancing

  Rolling credit cards into the mortgage can cut the monthly bill and still cost more for decades — and it puts the house behind consumer spending. Here is the four-test check, a worked example, and when a personal loan or hardship path is cleaner.

• RBA raised the cash rate to 4.60% on 29 September 2026 — what to do before your repayment changes

  Strategy

  The RBA lifted the cash rate by 0.25 percentage points to 4.60% on 29 September 2026, effective 30 September. The four majors have said they will pass that on from 9 October. Checklist for variable, fixed and pre-approval files before the repayment notice lands.

• Mortgage stress hits 18-year high — 32.5% at risk before the September RBA decision

  Strategy

  Roy Morgan puts 32.5% of mortgage holders at risk of mortgage stress in July 2026 — an 18-year high and the sixth straight monthly rise. The RBA meets 29 September with further hikes on the table. What the numbers mean and what to check on your loan before decision day.

• Australian property downturn spreads to 93% of capital-city suburbs — August Cotality data and what it means for your mortgage

  Strategy

  Cotality's August Home Value Index fell 0.9% nationally — the fifth straight monthly decline. Sydney is 7.1% below its February peak; 93% of capital-city suburbs recorded a fall through winter. What the numbers show, what is driving them, and how homeowners and buyers should read the mortgage angle.

• Bathla Group enters administration as Australia's property market sends split signals — lending, auctions, construction and what comes next

  Strategy

  Western Sydney developer Bathla Group entered voluntary administration with roughly 2,000 homes under construction and 13,000 in the pipeline. The same week, ABS data showed softer home-loan demand, sub-50% auction clearance, rising residential construction and resilient household spending. One headline cannot explain the market.

• Australia inflation rate July 2026: CPI falls to 3.5%, trimmed mean stuck at 3.6% — what mortgage holders should do before the 29 September RBA

  Strategy

  ABS July 2026 CPI: Australia’s inflation rate eased to 3.5% annually, but trimmed mean held at 3.6%. Housing still leads. Cash rate is 4.35% until the Board meets 29 September. Here is the mortgage checklist that matters now.

• RBA holds cash rate at 4.35% — August 2026 decision and what to do with your mortgage now

  Strategy

  The RBA left the cash rate at 4.35% on 11 August 2026 — unanimous, with hikes still on the table. A hold is not a freeze on your home loan rate. Here is what the Board said, why it matters, and how to engineer a better deal now.

• Soft June CPI — bank economists lean hold for August. Your mortgage still needs work

  Strategy

  Softer June CPI (3.8%, trimmed mean still 3.6%) pushed August hike odds down and major bank economists toward a hold. That is research commentary — not a free pass on your rate, retention gap, or term-for-term refinance maths.

• June CPI is in — what Australian mortgage holders should do before the 11 August RBA

  Strategy

  ABS June 2026 CPI: annual inflation 3.8%, trimmed mean still 3.6%. A day after Governor Bullock left further cash-rate rises on the table, here is a practical mortgage checklist for the 13 days to the 11 August RBA decision.

• Mortgage stress Australia July 2026 — what 1.6 million “at risk” households should check before the August RBA

  Strategy

  Roy Morgan puts 30.3% of mortgage holders (about 1.61 million people) “at risk” of mortgage stress in the three months to June 2026 — the fifth straight monthly rise. Here is what that measure means, what an August cash-rate move would change, and a practical checklist for your loan before CPI and the RBA Board meeting.

• Mortgage prisoner? The 1% buffer refinance exception that banks barely advertise (Australia 2026)

  Refinancing

  Declined for a refinance even though the new repayment is LOWER than what you pay now? You may be a mortgage prisoner — and in 2026 several lenders will test you at a 1% buffer instead of 3% on like-for-like switches. Eligibility checklist inside.

• Lender rate war July 2026: 18 banks cut variable rates while the RBA holds at 4.35% — existing borrower playbook

  Refinancing

  Canstar data shows 18 lenders have trimmed variable home loan rates since May while the cash rate sits at 4.35%. New customers can get a five in front of their rate — many existing borrowers cannot without action. Here is why, and what to do this week.