For millions of Australian homeowners and property investors, the Reserve Bank’s decision to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.35% will come as welcome relief. After three interest rate increases earlier this year, the RBA has now kept rates steady for two consecutive meetings, and while that doesn’t necessarily mean the tightening cycle is over,…
For millions of Australian borrowers, an offset account has become an important part of managing a mortgage. Salaries are paid into it, savings accumulate there and household spending flows through it, all with the expectation that every dollar sitting in the account is quietly reducing the interest charged on the home loan. However, a recent…
What’s next for interest rates? Well, it seems mortgage holders can breathe another sigh of relief, with most experts tipping the RBA to leave the cash rate where it is. According to this month’s Finder RBA Cash Rate Survey™, 38 experts and economists weighed in on future cash rate moves and other issues relating to…
Something strange is happening in property circles right now, and it has nothing to do with interest rates or auction clearance rates. It’s a kind of paralysis. Buyers are hesitating, sellers are holding back, and investors who would normally be active are sitting on their hands, waiting to see what happens next. The cause is…
If you asked Australians whether they feel more financially secure today than they did five years ago, I suspect most wouldn’t need to think too hard before answering. Then a new research from Money.com.au revealed that 52% of Australians, equivalent to 11.5 million people, expect their Census 2026 responses to show their household is financially…
Few topics generate more heat and less light in Australian public life than migration, and even though so much has been written about it, I felt I must give you my views. Over the past few years, migration has become a flashpoint for every frustration Australians feel about housing costs, infrastructure strain, and cost of…
There’s something deeply unsettling about a tax law that could punish a widow or divorcee for circumstances entirely outside their control, and that’s precisely what’s landed in the fine print of Labor’s newly passed property legislation. The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 1) Bill 2026 passed both houses of Parliament on 25 June, meaning…
If you’ve bought or sold a property recently, you’re used to a familiar process involving contracts, finance approval and a straightforward path to settlement. That process has just changed, and it has changed for everyone, including experienced investors who’ve done this dozens of times before. From 1 July 2026, Australian real estate agents, conveyancers, lawyers,…
Australian home prices fell in June, as all but one capital city recorded a decline, according to the latest PropTrack Home Price Index. Despite dropping a further 0.3% during the month, prices remain 5.8% higher than a year ago. According to Proptrack’s data, the median price of a home reached $903,000 in June following a…
Australia remains one of the most prosperous nations in the world. We enjoy a stable political system, abundant natural resources, a relatively strong labour market and living standards many countries would envy. Yet beneath the surface, something important is shifting. The latest findings from the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ General Social Survey reveal a growing…