Mortgage holders have been given a break, with the Reserve Bank holding the cash rate at their July meeting.
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The RBA held the cash rate at 4.10 per cent. This is just the second meeting out of 14 that has resulted in a hold since the RBA began raising the rate in May of 2022.
"Interest rates have been increased by 4 percentage points since May last year. The higher interest rates are working to establish a more sustainable balance between supply and demand in the economy and will continue to do so," RBA Governor Phillip Lowe said in a statement.
"In light of this and the uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook, the Board decided to hold interest rates steady this month. This will provide some time to assess the impact of the increase in interest rates to date and the economic outlook.
"This will provide some time to assess the impact of the increase in interest rates to date and the economic outlook."
That gives some relief for mortgage holders who have faced 12 out of the last 14 months with rate rises from the RBA but they still weigh heavily on homeowners.
In Newcastle and Lake Macquarie the monthly repayments are $4,517 on a house with the median value of $850,345 according to Canstar modelling. This is based on taking out a loan for 80 per cent worth of the total property price.
One of those still feeling the heat is first-home buyer Adam Newling who purchased a property in Jesmond in April.
![First-home buyer Adam Newing feels this month pause is "kind of like a band-aid". First-home buyer Adam Newing feels this month pause is "kind of like a band-aid".](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/170682627/ccbed873-28ce-4079-b99f-b0e4e6040aa8.jpg/r0_6_828_665_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Mr Newling, who is a full-time touring and recording musician, told The Newcastle Herald that the uncertainty around potential rate rises every month was "terrifying" as a first-time homeowner.
"Having a pause on rate rises feels kind of like a band-aid," Mr Newling said.
"For how long is the pause going to be enacted? Or will they pause it and then hike it up massively again when everyone is feeling OK.
"The uncertainty of it all is very daunting," Mr Newling said.
"You have a figure in your head and then it gets hiked up exponentially and for me, that's terrifying.
"Especially working in the music industry, it's pretty rare to have a weekly paycheck.
"You work where you can and that work is getting slimmer and slimmer as things like the cost of living progress."
![Mr Newling said he was already pursuing extra work in order to keep up with the rising cost of living. Mr Newling said he was already pursuing extra work in order to keep up with the rising cost of living.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/170682627/0d663849-ca4e-4175-939f-f9d3b10ef190.jpg/r0_0_828_550_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Mr Newling spent several years saving toward a house deposit.
Eventually, he decided to move back home to live with his parents for six months in order to fast-track his savings.
He said record high rent prices contributed to his decision to enter the property market.
"That's what became the turning for me," he said.
"I'd been renting for seven years and I was like, "I'd rather put that time and money into paying off something that's my own rather than putting the money towards someone else's dream.
"I kind of figured with the way rates were going, that if I didn't do it now then I never would."
Mr Newling said he was already pursuing extra work in order to keep up with the rising cost of living.
He added that his industry is already hurting as consumers cut back on spending income on social activities such as going to gigs and eating out.
"It's an excuse for me to work harder as everyone official has been saying," he said.
"Work more, spend less, right?
"But on the flip side of that, I'm already busting my hump. Another rate rise will cause a lot of people to live less happy lives, I think.
"I'm finding it's already getting harder to sell tickets to gigs and it's made a lot of people in my field think about alternative options, but we've all spent the last 15 years honing this craft, so where do you go from there?"
![Mr Newling said he could rent out the spare rooms if increased repayments put added pressure on his finances. Mr Newling said he could rent out the spare rooms if increased repayments put added pressure on his finances.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/170682627/b3f1ca02-f36d-4191-a5ca-647ee87fab20.JPEG/r0_131_1961_1364_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
As the sole mortgage holder of his three-bedroom home, Mr Newling said he could rent out the spare rooms if increased repayments put added pressure on his finances.
"That is the plan," he said.
"It has a couple of bedrooms and I am looking to lighten that load. I don't have a family, just a dog, so the plan will be the get some renters in down the track."