Australians are desperately attempting to find savings anywhere they can in a prolonged cost of living crisis, with a grim search result hitting a record high after the RBA again hiked interest rates on Tuesday.

Google Trends shows that Aussies searching the term mortgage broker hit its highest daily search inquiry on Tuesday over the last 365 days.

In fact, going back further through the available Google data, Tuesday was the highest day of Aussies searching the term mortgage broker since 2004, with earlier data not available.

The last highest peak outside 2026 was in April 2020, as COVID-19 halted Australia and the world. However, then, Aussies were likely searching the term to take advantage of plunging interest rates, securing a better deal.

The grim search increase from Aussies should come as no surprise.

Australians have been battling rising inflation and cost of living as the RBA hiked rates more and more, on Tuesday to 4.35 per cent. Throw in a war in the Middle East and a global oil crisis that sent petrol prices soaring and the perfect storm has well and truly arrived.

For major mortgage broker Lendi Group, which operates Aussie Home Loans, the spike in Google searches came as no surprise, as they have seen a 37 per cent increase in broker appointments booked this week compared to last.

“We had one of the highest days we’ve had yesterday in inquiry specifically around refinance that we’ve had in some time,” Sebastian Watkins, chief executive of Lendi Group told The Nightly.

“Interestingly, it’s been somewhat of a delayed response. When we saw the rate tightening cycle coming out of COVID, there was much more of an immediate response. We saw a little bit more of a subdued response on the first two hikes in February and March, but this one is looking very different.”

For those engaging with Lendi Group and Aussie Home Loans, customers are able to access big savings on the marker, Mr Watkins said.

“With customers coming through today, there are lenders that have got 50 to 75 basis points worth of differential, in a very similar product. So there’s definitely savings out there.”

What Aussies should do if they are worried about interest rates

The savings that Aussies could be achieve though, might not be as simple as a simple home loan refinance, with the Lendi Group chief executive telling The Nightly that some creative refinance could be the option.

“It’s not as one dimensional as just the rate cut or the saving on the rate itself,” Mr Watkins told The Nightly.

“There’s other ways that finances can be restructured to make them more cash flow friendly during these harder periods. A lot of consumers will have things like credit card debt or car loans, but they’ll have a lot of equity in their house.

“If you’ve got the home equity at 6 per cent and a credit card at 19 per cent, taking that debt and rolling that into your home loan can actually release a lot of pressure and cash flow constraints that are tied into that higher interest rate on some of those other debts that they might have.”

The concept of bundling debts together, like how your power provider may offer you savings on your phone bill and subscription services is not something that has historically been as hot of a topic, Mr Watkins said, but it’s a financial mentality that could offer much-welcomed relief.

“People are certainly sitting there, like many Australians, with lots of equity in their house today that they could use to refinance that debt across and ultimately reduce the total um cash outlay.”

Will interest rates get worst?

Mr Watkins, like most financial experts doesn’t have a crystal ball, however, he accepts we are living in “an unpredictable world at the moment”.

Asked if rates will keep going up, he said: “Certainly many economists are contemplating further tightening.

Pointing out the cash rate being at its highest point in over a decade, Mr Watkins said we are in “somewhat uncharted territory”, encouraging Aussies to assess their serviceability before it was too late.

“People should be very aware and alert to potentially more (rises) and be starting to get their optimising around their debt structure and getting what they can in place now.”

“What a lot of people miss is that as the interest rates continue to rise, their serviceability levels continue to compress. So if someone was on the cusp of serviceability and another rise or two put them out of serviceable territory, they may miss the opportunity to refinance.”

How 30 seconds could save you thousands

Aussies have shown with their Google searches and their feet that they want to engage mortgage brokers.

The Lendi Group chief executive told The Nightly that 80 per cent of Australians use a mortgage broker now for their home loans.

“A mortgage broker will compare the market. We’ll sit there with a customer first approach and we’ll be working with our customers to find the right lender for them, regardless of where that lender would be and who they are. Aussie (Home Loans) has over 28 lenders on the panel. There’s going to be far more choice and opportunity for savings than limiting yourself to one or two.

For the millions of Aussies who are already working hard to repay their debts and are potentially overwhelmed at what to do and where to start in looking for savings, Mr Watkins said once 30-second call is the place to start.

“Speak to a mortgage broker. It’s honestly a 30-second phone call could save you thousands,” he said.

“At worst case, there’s nothing that you can do, but at least you have the peace of mind. Best case you could be putting thousands of dollars in your pocket.”

Mr Watkins encouraged Aussies to seek an experienced and reputability mortgage broker to look at the best options for exactly where savings can be made.

Michele Bullock’s warning: The worst could still be ahead

RBA Governor Michele Bullock’s confirmation that rates were being hiked by .25 basis points on Tuesday came with a warning that more pain could be to come.

Mentioning a tight labour market before the Iran war that has been further fuelling inflationary pressures, she hinted Tuesday’s increase may be far from the last to combat a possible wage-price spiral.

“Developments in the Middle East remain highly uncertain but under a wide range of possible scenarios, the conflict adds to global and domestic inflation,” she told reporters.

“If left unchecked, higher costs get embedded into price and wage-setting decisions.

“These second-round effects could lead to even higher and more persistent inflation and if so, would require even more tightening in monetary policy to get inflation under control.”

Ms Bullock also laid the groundwork on Tuesday for a potential blame game down the like, with her finger firmly pointed at the Albanese Government.

Will Labor make things worse with the Budget?

Australia’s chief central banker also addressed a concern about government spending adding to demand after the RBA’s updated statement on monetary policy noted “governments may consider policies to support households and businesses” — ahead of an expected cost-of-living Budget next Tuesday.

“To the extent that the Government is demanding goods and services of the economy - in the variety of ways that they do whether it’s direct expenditure or giving money to households to spend on goods and services in the private sector - that adds to demand,” she said.

“All I’m saying is the extent to which government make up the shortfalls for households, by giving them more money, it makes it harder to dampen demand.”

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been out and about on Wednesday attempting to push the message that he has things under control.

Speaking to Sunrise, Dr Chalmers said the upcoming Budget would be “very, very responsible” as households continue to feel the squeeze.

The Treasurer also shutdown speculation that the Government was preparing a fresh wave of stimulus, saying: “This will be a really responsible Budget, which takes the inflation challenge seriously, because we know that people are under pressure.”

“We intend to responsibly, carefully wind back spending in the Budget,” he said, adding that the Government could still “play a helpful role in the fight against inflation.”

The information in the article in general advice. Individuals should seek their own financial advice.