Property news: RBA drops the cash rate for the first time in years

Another huge week for property! Of course the BIGGEST news this week was the RBA interest rate cuts, bringing with it another wave of confidence:

Rate cut the third boost for property market

Only NAB and CBA have passed on the full rate cut to consumers, despite the treasurer issuing somewhat of a warning:

Pass on rate cut, Treasurer warns banks

But not everyone is feeling jubilant about the cuts:

WA property market will need more than an interest rate cut to kick start it, experts warn

Interest rate cut is actually a recipe for housing nightmare

When low interest rates become an investment risk

One thing is for sure, and the downturn is actually slowing down:

New CoreLogic data shows the property market’s downturn is losing steam

Property market turns a corner as historic rate decision looms

Has the Sydney market hit bottom?

House values fall ahead of likely RBA rate cut

Which brings into question the topic of affordability: Exposing the critical property market flaw

Core Logic quoted from the linked article:

“However, while housing affordability has improved in Sydney and Melbourne, it’s improved from a very, very high level to something that’s still fairly high. Before the marketplace started to downturn, Sydney’s dwelling price to income ratio was getting up to 10 times, meaning a typical household was spending about 10 times their gross annual income to afford the median price dwelling. That’s fallen to a little bit more than 8.5 times now.”

And with the new stamp duty rules passed in Victoria, it’s anyones guess how that might affect affordability too.

Watch our latest video to hear our thoughts about Victoria: