Interest rates are on hold for now but economists expect the next move to be up.

Home buyers are turning to fixed-rate mortgages in response to the steady rise in interest rates last year and predictions that rates will go higher this year.

Mortgage broker AFG publishes a monthly mortgage index, which shows that the proportion of fixed-rate mortgages increased from just 2 per cent of its total new lending at the start of last year to 3.4 per cent in July and then 12.6 per cent in December. Continue reading Home loans: to fix or not to fix? →