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Homeowners are flocking to the Government's online mortgage repayment calculator as rising living costs and high interest rates lead some people to re-assess what they can afford to repay.
People used the Retirement Commission's online mortgage repayment calculator 100,000 times last month - nearly twice the number of times the calculator was used in January.
The figure comes as struggling homeowners wait to see if the Reserve Bank lends them a helping hand when it reviews the official cash rate today.
In July last year, the online calculator received just 34,000 visits. In May this year, the number of visits peaked at 128,000.
Banks spoken to by the Herald said more people were seeking budget and mortgage repayment advice as living costs increased.
ASB head of business ventures Peter Hall said there had been a noticeable rise in people wanting to repay only the interest on their mortgages in the short term. More people were also approaching the bank to consolidate their debt, he said.
National Bank retail banking managing director Jenny Fagg said more customers wanted help with their financial arrangements, with some asking for help to rearrange their lending to cope with higher costs.
A spokesperson for Westpac said it was experiencing strong interest in its budgeting and money managing services. About 1800 people had visited Westpac's online money management tutorial since May.
Federation of Family Budgeting Services chief executive Raewyn Fox said budget advisers had seen a new demographic of clients in the past six months, as food, fuel and interest costs put pressure even on families with relatively good incomes.
People who had borrowed 95 or 100 per cent of the value of their homes were being particularly hard hit, because they had little equity with which to restructure their lending. "We are seeing people who have done everything possible to restructure their spending and who are running out of options," she said.
Ms Fagg said people who found themselves struggling should ask for help straight away. "Banks are in a much better position to help customers before situations start getting out of hand."
Last night, market economists were struggling to pick whether the central bank would cut the cash rate from 8.25 per cent, where it has been sitting since the middle of last year. The Reserve Bank has signalled that it will cut rates by the end of the year but economists were unsure whether the drop would arrive today or in September.
However, economists warn homeowners should not get too excited about the Reserve Bank's announcement. The high number of fixed rate mortgages and the cost of borrowing offshore mean it could take some time before a lower official cash rate translated into lower average retail mortgage prices.
