Be warned. Opportunity narrowing

Comments in the weekly economic overview from Westapc reiterate something we have highlighted previously.

It says that the strong exchange rate and delays before the Christchurch reconstruction start are expected to keep the OCR, and hence floating mortgage rates, unmoved until early 2012.

However the Reserve Bank is still foreshadowing a significant amount of tightening once the rebuild begins, and the shorter fixed-term rates are likely to incorporate this well in advance.

The window of opportunity for sitting on floating rates, before jumping into a fixed term, is quickly narrowing.