Mortgage holders are set to feel the squeeze after the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, the National Australia Bank and Westpak said they will pass on the Reserve Bank’s latest 0.5% rate increase. It means the average $500,000 loan with 25 years remaining will see an extra $137/month added to their repayments – and that’s on top of the last 2 hikes. Rising rates have seen property prices fall for the 2nd month in a row, with home values falling 0.6% across Oz in June, led by falls in Sydney (-1.6%) and Melbourne (-1.1%), and Hobart (-0.2%), according to analysts CoreLogic. Pressure might be coming off the market for buyers, but for renters, it’s tighter than the plaits done by a harried parent… The rental market continued to tighten over the April-June quarter, with national vacancy rates dropping to 1.2% from 2.2% on last year and rental prices climbing 9.1% in the cities and 10.8% in regional areas. Canberra remains the priciest city to rent, while Melbourne has overtaken Adelaide as the most affordable.