09 Oct Where is property in October?
Last Tuesday’s RBA rate cut came at no surprise to anyone. Our Cash Rate is now 0.75%. Great for mortgage holders, but not so great for savers. We have seen most banks only pass on 60% of the rate cut on their mortgages. Savings accounts also suffered cuts even before the RBA announced their interest rate decision. Here are the current rates offered by the big 4 on their online savings accounts, not including any bonus rates:
- ANZ Online Saver: 0.10%
- NAB iSaver: 0.11%
- Commonwealth Bank NetBank Saver: 0.15%
- Westpac eSaver: 0.15%
We are getting dangerously close to Zero.
Here is this months property update.
Auction Clearance Rate
Sydney’s auction clearance rate last week were 74.5%. Melbourne’s auction clearance rate was 80.2%, although there were only 107 auctions on due to the AFL grand final last weekend. This is the 7th consecutive week the clearance rates have been above the 70% mark.
Property Values
Sydney property values saw a slight increase again of 1.7% for the month following last months increase. In Melbourne, house values were also up 1.7%.
CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said, “Although housing values are now consistently tracking higher, at least at a macro-level, the national index remains 6.8% below the October 2017 peak, indicating that buyers still have some time to take advantage of improved housing affordability before values return to record highs.”
Based on the minutes from Tuesday’s monthly RBA meeting, it’s almost certain that we will be in a low interest rate environment for a little while and we may even see further cuts.
Governor Philip Lowe had this to say:
“It is reasonable to expect that an extended period of low interest rates will be required in Australia to reach full employment and achieve the inflation target. The Board will continue to monitor developments, including in the labour market, and is prepared to ease monetary policy further if needed to support sustainable growth in the economy, full employment and the achievement of the inflation target over time.”
“I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.” – Walt Disney
Thank you for reading
