Analysts are predicting that Australia's major lenders will lift rates regardless of the outcome in the Reserve Bank of Australia's policy meeting on October 5.

The series of disappointing data this week, including a decline in the performance of manufacturing index and softness in the housing market, could make the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) think twice about lifting interest rates at its board meeting on Tuesday.

However, "almost all major lenders, and many market economists are predicting that financial institutions will lift their rates regardless of whether the RBA does," according to RateCity chief executive Damian Smith.

He said it would be surprising if the benchmark standard variable rate, the average advertised variable rate of the four major banks, does not go up by more than 25 basis points between now and Christmas.

Investors are split on whether the central bank will lift the 4.5 percent cash rate at its policy meeting next week, with one measure putting the chance of a hike at 52 percent.

Figures from RP Data released yesterday showed that average Australian house prices had fallen for the third month in a row, after 17 months of successive growth since last year. The number of new building approvals likewise slumped by 4.7 percent in August.

ICAP economist Adam Carr said "We need to see that CPI number to ensure that there is a near-term case to hike rates." He said there was a chance that the CPI figures, due to be released in October 27, could be soft.

Commonwealth Bank chief economist Michael Blythe, meanwhile, is sticking to his forecast for a 25 basis point increase in the cash rate to 4.75 percent, citing Thursday's strong job figures as the main driver.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data showed job vacancies climbed by nearly 10 percent in the three months to August, to 181,300 positions.

But Treasurer Wayne Swan said there is no reason for retail banks to lift rates independently, whether or not the central bank does shift rates at its policy meeting.

"I don't believe there is any justification, and the Australian people believe there is no justification, for any of the banks to move outside the official Reserve Bank rate cycle," he told ABC Radio.