May 2025

Where It’s Cheaper to Buy Than Rent While the pace of rental growth has eased in many cities, past increases mean there are still locations where a weekly mortgage repayment is cheaper than weekly rents. Analysis from Ubank shows there are ten Sydney suburbs, all unit markets, where residents were financially better off buying. In

FHB Accepting Help First-home buyers are making it into the market despite high levels of unaffordability, with about a third using the Australian Government’s Home Guarantee Scheme to purchase. The scheme helps First Home Buyers who don’t have a 20% deposit to avoid expensive Lenders Mortgage Insurance. The latest State of the Housing System report

Auction Market Heating Up The weather may be starting to cool, but the Australian property market is starting to heat up, with the number of properties being offered under the hammer rising. According to Cotality figures, there are 2,395 homes scheduled to go under the hammer this week – up 34.2% from last week and

New Home Sales Rise Sales of new homes have risen to the highest level in the past 12 months, although still not at levels to address the ongoing shortage of new dwellings across Australia. HIA Economist Maurice Tapang says new home sales were up 16.5% in April. Low levels of unemployment, recovering real wages and

Confidence Up, But Don’t Expect A Boom The interest rate cut will support housing markets, but don’t expect a boom in housing prices until affordability improves. With the average variable rate for owner-occupier loans expected to fall to around 5.81%, reducing repayments on a $750,000 loan by $81/month, the rate cut is expected to lift