Overview
- Home values rose 1.1% nationally in October, the strongest monthly gain since mid-2023, lifting prices by roughly A$54,000 since rate cuts began.
- Commercial banks fully passed on the Reserve Bank’s third recent cut to mortgages in October, while the RBA is expected to hold rates at its meeting this week after sticky inflation data.
- Investors took 38% of new housing loans over the past three months, with landlord credit growing at the fastest pace in a decade and prompting talk of possible APRA tightening.
- Regional and smaller-capital markets led the upswing, including annual gains of 22.2% in Albany and 18.7% in Mildura, with notable increases in Tamworth, Gunnedah and the Darling Downs.
- The federal 5% deposit program for first-home buyers began in October, intersecting with tight supply and construction costs that remain about 45% above pre-pandemic levels.