Newcastle mortgage holders are in line for another squeeze following the fourth consecutive month of cash rate hikes.
Despite some talk of a 0.75 per cent hike in the lead-up to Tuesday, the Reserve Bank decided on a third straight rise of 50 basis points, taking the cash rate to 1.85 per cent.
Canstar modelling shows the change could add $212 to the monthly mortgage repayment in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie, assuming a 30-year loan on the median house price of $892,000 at a variable rate of 2.98 per cent.
All up, a Newcastle mortgage holder could pay about $700 extra on their monthly repayments since the cash rate was first lifted from 0.1 per cent in May.
RELATED: Chris Joannou lists Carrington home for sale
Newcastle's top 10 streets revealed: clifftop address climbing the ranks
Biggest drop since 2004: Newcastle house values fall again, unit prices steady
First home buyer Mitch James is one of many new homeowners who have been hit with rate rises from day one of their mortgage.
The Graincorp site manager had been looking to buy in Newcastle for about seven months before securing an apartment in May with Walkom Real Estate's Thomas Hook and Ben Jarvis.
He settled on the two-bedroom Eaton apartment in June, and was hit with an interest rate rise within a fortnight.
"My repayments have gone up $100 a fortnight straight away so it's pretty noticeable," he said.
"Being a first home buyer, when you see that first [repayment] figure ... you think 'I'm going to pay that for at least the next six months', not have a $100 increase in the first two weeks.
"It's a little bit daunting, but it might go up now and hopefully one day it'll come back down as well."
To date, the four big banks have all passed recent rate hikes in full to variable loan customers, as have Newcastle Permanent and Greater Bank.
Despite the threat of ongoing rate rises, Mr James believes he is still better off having a foot on the property ladder.
What's more, he is happy to have settled in Newcastle after moving from Moree eighteen months ago.
"I should have probably bought five or 10 years ago when things were much cheaper, but that's the way it is," he said.
"In the end I was happy to get into the market and secure something.
"I wanted to experience that coastal city life and I think Wickham and the CBD is right in the heart of it.
"I've always been a Knights fan so that was a drawcard ... I don't know if Newcastle gets advertised as well as what it should, but it's got nice beaches, restaurants and bars, it's up and coming."
The cash rate is widely tipped to reach more than 3 per cent by early next year, however, experts say the Reserve Bank could begin cutting rates back as early as late 2023.
