'No excuses': Mortgage holders should expect interest rate relief: survey
Falling inflation and a cooling labour market give the RBA plenty of room for a cash rate cut, say experts.
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
An avalanche of expert opinion is tipping the Reserve Bank of Australia to slash interest rates at its meeting next week.
The results of a new Finder survey found 91 per cent of the 34 economists and experts canvassed believed the central bank will authorise a 25-basis-point cut which would bring the official cash rate down to 3.60 per cent.
If banks pass this on in full, a homeowner with a $500,000 mortgage will save $2884 per year compared with what they were paying at the start of the year before the RBA started cutting the cash rate.
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A widely-anticipated reduction failed to materialise last month, when the cash rate remained on hold at 3.85 per cent, stunning mortgage owners.
But the experts say the RBA board has no excuses not to make a cut when it wraps up the two-day meeting next Tuesday.
They point out there are no more barriers to a reduction, with falling inflation and a softening labour market.
One of the few dissenting voices was Stella Huangfu, of the University of Sydney, who is expecting a hold.
She says annual CPI inflation is still within the upper band of the RBA's target range at 2.7 per cent.
Also, following two rate cuts, central bankers may want to pause and assess the economic situation, she says.
Head of consumer research at Finder Graham Cooke says banks will be under pressure to pass on in full any cash rate cut.
"If the RBA doesn't cut next week, they are risking an all-out attack on their legitimacy in the eyes of many homeowners," he said.
Mortgage holders paying more than 5.5 per cent on their home loans after any reduction, were probably forking out too much, says Cooke.
Looking ahead, four in five panellists expect the RBA to hold the cash rate next month.
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