With dwelling commitments and consumer confidence falling at an unprecedented rate, the possibility for a July rate cut is increasing - which will be welcome news for most property investors.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week revealed that dwelling commencements fell sharply in the March 2012 quarter and have been declining since the middle of 2010 to run at an annualised level of 122,492.
If the Reserve Bank of Australia does choose to cut the official cash rate next week, all eyes will be on the majors to see if they pass any or the entire rate cut on to their borrowers.
Last month, ANZ was the only major bank to pass on the rate cut in full.
The lender’s decision to break ranks with the Reserve Bank and review its cash rate on the second Friday of every month meant the other majors only had to wait a couple of days after the rate announcement to see what their major peer did with rates.
Phillip Tarrant is executive editor – Real Estate at Momentum Media. He is also an investor with a large property portfolio.
He leads the content strategy and corporate growth for a range of market and business intelligence platforms at Momentum Media, including Smart Property Investment – the authoritative voice for Australia’s property investment community.
As head of the Smart Property Investment Podcast Network, he also steers the largest network of property podcasts in Australia, which collectively generates nearly 2 million downloads every year.
There are over 2.6 million investment properties in Australia, with over 2.1 million Australians (or around 8 per cent of all Australians) owning one or more investment properties. A vibrant and critical sector for... Read more
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