Brace yourselves for higher mortgage rates in the coming months as a weakened Coalition government is likely to sit and cause a downgrade in the country's triple-A investment grade status.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has already warned Australia that it could lose its AAA credit rating this week in the wake of the Federal Election. It has already downgraded the credit outlook for the Big Four banks, which could quickly translate into more expensive mortgages for both current and prospective home owners all over the country.

"We know already that the minute banks have higher funding costs, they push higher rates through the market," said James Kirby in his report from The Australian. "Now, they have ammunition from the world's most famous rating agency to back their case in the months ahead."

Even the prospect of cutting the official interest rate in the future is not reassuring to those paying off their mortgages.

"It is not a time to take any comfort from economists telling us the RBA might cut rates in the future," Kirby said. "If they do, they will be cutting them in an effort to limit how fast and hard commercial banks are going to lift business rates and home loan rates."

Collections: