Interest rates remained on hold again today, June 18, following the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meeting.
This is despite other countries cutting their rates recently – Sweden, Switzerland, Canada and the European Union have all cut their interest rates. They all had inflation issues and therefore raised interest rates to bring it under control like we did here in Australia. Inflation is now trending down in all these economies as is ours.
Interestingly, despite most of them not getting inflation back to their own target ranges, these world banks decided to cut rates anyway to avoid hurting mortgage holders unnecessarily longer than is thought required. Unfortunately, our central bank has reiterated that “returning inflation to target is priority” and therefore kept rates on hold. The next meeting is six weeks away on August 5-6 .
The local real estate market continues to be strong in certain segments and challenging in others.
There are still buyers around and they still have plenty of choices, however, new stock numbers are slowing (as usual for this time of year). Spring could see a surge in listings as owners perceive it as the best time to sell and this can certainly be the case for some properties. However, basic economics tells us that any increase in supply without a corresponding increase in demand will lead to pressure on prices.
Therefore, please make sure you get the right advice if planning to sell sometime in the remainder of 2024 to make sure the timing is right for you.
About the writer
Ian Pepper has had a long and distinguished career as a finance and real estate professional. Originally trained as a Chartered Accountant in 1995, Ian worked in Sydney and London. He has an MBA from Macquarie Graduate School of Management and now sells real estate with Ray White Helensburgh. Ian also volunteers with local community groups including school P&Cs, sporting clubs and business chambers.