The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has met today for the last time in 2016 to decide its final monetary policy decision of the year. Their meeting has seen the board provide mortgage holders an early present by keeping interest rates on hold at a record low level of 1.5%.
This was no surprise to experts; all 26 economists polled by Bloomberg prior to the decision indicated they felt the cash rate would again remain on hold in the lead up to the holiday season.
Low Interest Rates Good News
The decision to keep interest rates at the all time low of 1.5% until at least February continues to be good news for the red-hot property market, which continues to deliver strong returns across much of the country.
According to new figures released by CoreLogic, over the past month Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide and Darwin all logged monthly gains of 0.8% or higher, with Darwin and Adelaide having a particularly strong month returning growth of 3.7% and 2.9% respectively.
“The highest annual growth rate is evident in Sydney and Melbourne where dwelling values are now 13.1% and 11.3% higher respectively, reflecting a steeper upwards trajectory in growth over the second half of the year,” said Tim Lawless, Head of Research at CoreLogic.
“The Hobart and Canberra markets have also seen some acceleration in growth rate trends with dwelling values up 8.5%, and 8.4% respectively over the past twelve months.
“Nationally, house prices have now risen in year-on-year terms for 4.5 years, leaving the gain over the cycle at 42.2%.”
Ultimately, sustained housing growth coupled with all time low interest rates continues the spate of good news for investors and home-owners alike as we move towards the new year.
As your mortgage broker we are here to help with any questions you may have. In the meantime we would like to wish you the very best of the season.