Low vacancy rates have driven home rents higher over March with most capital cities again reporting higher results for both houses and units. Darwin was the top performer with house rents up by 5.5% followed by Sydney and Hobart each higher by 2.5%, Canberra up 1.7%, Perth higher by 1.4%, Melbourne up 1.3%, Adelaide higher…
Talk of a recession in Australia has picked up in recent weeks. Rising fuel prices, a sharp fall in consumer confidence, and signs of softer spending have all added to concerns the economy may be losing momentum. A recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. By that standard, Australia is…
There’s a lot going on in our property markets at the moment, and if you’re trying to make sense of it all, it’s easy to get pulled in different directions. On the one hand, we’re seeing rental markets tighten again, with vacancy rates continuing to fall across most capital cities, which is pushing rents higher…
2026 is shaping up to be another year of solid, though uneven, growth. At its first meeting for 2026, the Reserve Bank lifted the cash rate to 3.85%, up from 3.6%, exactly as most economists expected. That move officially ends the shortest and most modest rate-cutting cycle since the RBA began inflation targeting back in…
National home prices increased in March to a new high, with Cotality’s national home value index rising by 0.7%, taking dwelling values 2.1% higher over the first quarter of the year. Perth surged 7.3% over the quarter, while Melbourne values are down -0.9% from the November high and the Sydney market is down -0.4%. Every…
Australia’s property market has just hit another record… According to the latest PropTrack Home Price Index, the national home prices rose to a fresh record in March, extending the current upswing, but the pace of home price growth is slowing, National home prices increased 0.3% in March, taking the national median home value to $908,000….
Cotality’s national home value index rose 0.7% in March, taking dwelling values 2.1% higher over the first quarter of the year. At the national level, the pace of gains is easing, reducing from a 2.8% increase in Q4 last year, but housing outcomes are increasingly diverse from city to city and across the pricing spectrum….
Just when many borrowers thought the worst of the rate hiking cycle might be behind them, Westpac has thrown a curveball, signalling we could be heading into a far more prolonged and painful phase of tightening than most expected. Well, Westpac has upped its cash rate forecast for the year, tipping the RBA will deliver…
Capital city home prices have continued to rise over March despite another increase in official interest rates and growing uncertainty over the outlook for inflation and the global economy. The national capital city median house price increased by a solid 0.9% over the March quarter to $1,296,402 compared to the February quarter, according to the…
A drawn-out war in the Middle East could add an extra 5% to existing inflation in Australia, our new modelling shows. We looked at the likely impacts of two different scenarios: a moderate disruption with the war ending in mid-April, and a drawn-out war ending by September. We found higher fuel costs would affect freight,…
