The Reserve Bank’s decision to lift interest rates this week will weigh heavily on financially pressured home borrowers in marginal Sydney seats who could decide the outcome of the federal election.
Liberal and Labor strategists say the large number marginal electorates held by the ALP in NSW make it a key battleground at this federal election. The reaction of voters in those marginal seats to the prospect of rising interest rates could be crucial to the outcome.Sydney University housing expert, Professor Peter Phibbs, said higher mortgage repayments would add to other cost of living pressures being felt by borrowers.
Three hotly contested marginal seats with a high share of financially stressed mortgagors were in the outer suburbs of Sydney –Greenway and Lindsay and Werriwa . In the Liberal-held inner-west seat of Reid, which is being targeted by Labor, the UNSW study identified almost 40 per cent of mortgagor households under financial pressure.