With all the changes in the market, is it time to start looking at your loan structure? Should you start thinking about fixing a portion of your mortgage, or the entire amount? Can you lower the amount you are paying by consolidating your debt?

These are all very tricky questions, and the best place to start is to look at your existing debt load and how much room you have to move. Do you have a buffer zone around what you earn, as compared to what you spend? This is an important factor in not over-extending yourself on your loan(s).

Then you need to decide what you are comfortable with; no one can predict exactly what the market will do in the coming months, but most observers believe interest rates will probably continue to rise, to a degree.

If you want to maintain the flexibility of extra repayments or redraw earlier extra payments, then you may want to look at fixing a portion of your loan. For example, you can fix 50% of your loan so you know what your repayments for that portion of the loan will be for a set amount of time, and leave the remainder in a variable rate for the flexibility.

If you feel that you need of a more conservative approach then you may want to fix the entire amount. This way you know what the repayments will be for the length of time the loan is fixed. You can only make limited extra repayments during this time, and paying out the loan before the end of the fixed rate period will attract additional break fees, so it is best to look at your longer-term plans to make sure you are not going to want to refinance or pay out the loan before the end of the fixed term. Keep in mind that banks are likely to charge more interest on a fixed rate loan that a variable rate loan.

You may also want to sit down with your mortgage broker, accountant and or financial planner to discuss your overall financial strategy to see how the increased rates may influence your strategies.