'It's not easy': Launceston homebuyers, mortgageholders face new landscape

Canstar modelling shows the average Launceston and North-East homeowner was paying just $1338 a month in August 2018 (assuming a 20 per cent deposit on the median dwelling price of $336,000).

By the time of the Reserve Bank's first rate hike in May 2022, the COVID property boom catapulted the region's median dwelling price to $576,000, meaning the average homeowner's monthly repayment was $1938.

Sixteen months and a dozen rate rises later, Launceston and North-East's median dwelling price has dropped to $519,000, but the average monthly repayment has hit $2,758.

According to 2021 census data, this figure represents about half the median monthly income of homeowners in the region.

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So what does the new landscape mean for homebuyers?

The cash rate appears to have stabilised at 4.1 per cent after three consecutive months without a hike.

Launceston homebuyers have much less borrowing capacity than one year ago, but may have better insight into what the future holds.

"For a typical borrower their borrowing capacity has reduced by about 30 per cent in the past 12 months," said Launceston broker Stewart Nankervis, of Urban Money.

"So if you could borrow $500,000 12 months ago before the rates went up, you can now borrow about $350,000, so it's a real reality check for a lot of people - it's not easy.

"But I think people know a bit more about where they stand now and it is what it is."

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Mr Nankervis said the majority of borrowers were currently opting for variable-rate loans.

"At the moment fixed rates are quite a bit higher than variable," he said.

"In general most people tend to be going variable in the hope they [interest rates] don't go too much further."

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