If you’ve been wondering who’s really driving Australia’s property market right now, the latest lending figures give us a very clear answer. First home buyers are making a comeback. But here’s the twist… they’re coming back armed with bigger loans than ever before, in a market where investors are also doubling down and refinancing activity…
One of the tricks to making money from your investment property is to buy well. Now, that sounds like a fairly obvious point but you’d be surprised by how many investors and homebuyers (and all homebuyers should think like investors at the end of the day) pay too much for their properties – even in…
Imagine reaching retirement age, finally ready to enjoy the fruits of decades of hard work, only to realise you’re still sending monthly repayments to the bank. That’s the unsettling reality facing a growing number of Australians, as homeownership is being delayed later and later in life. For generations, the great Australian dream was simple: buy…
Inflation cooled in November, as a wave of retail discounting helped ease the pressure on household budgets during the holiday period and bolstered the case for the Reserve Bank to hold interest rates steady next month. However, a hike is by no means off the cards. ABS data released this week shows headline inflation dropped…
Just when many Australians were daring to believe the rate-hike cycle was behind us, the narrative has flipped again. And boy has it flipped quickly! Two of our biggest banks—CBA and NAB have now revised their forecasts and expect the RBA to lift the cash rate as early as February 2026. And that’s just six…
As we head into the festive season, when online shopping, travel bookings, and spending ramp up, experts are warning that cybercriminals are doing the same. And if you think you’re too smart, too old, or too young to fall for a scam, think again. Because scammers are getting smarter and smarter. A new study from…
It’s the end of another year, and while many Australians were hoping for some Christmas cheer from the Reserve Bank, there will was no interest rate relief under the tree this festive season. The RBA has made it clear that interest rates are staying higher for longer. But that doesn’t mean homeowners are completely out…
If you thought interest rate uncertainty was behind us, think again. Westpac has just lifted its fixed home loan rates for the second time in just over a month, increasing them by as much as 0.35 percentage points. The move follows the Reserve Bank’s latest hint that another rate hike could be on the cards…
Every so often a single statistic captures the mood of the market far better than any forecast or headline. And the following is a good example of this month, it’s this one: One in ten homes sold in October was purchased using the federal government’s 5% Deposit Scheme, according to an article in realestate.com.au That’s…
Starting last Friday, thousands of Australians who’ve been stuck renting might finally get a crack at owning their own home. The Federal Government’s long-awaited Help to Buy scheme officially launched, a policy that’s been on the cards since 2022 and is being pitched as “a lifeline for those locked out of the market.” But while the…
