The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) yesterday announced its decision to continue with the cash rate from May at 2.75 per cent, which may be good news for those looking to buy real estate in Darwin.
After last month’s statement on the cut from three per cent down to the lower rate, banks and lending institutions around Australia lowered their interest rates for property buyers and mortgagees.
A continued low rate from the RBA means that more opportunities may open up for property buyers to borrow at a lower interest rate, effectively lowering the total cost of home ownership.
The Real Estate Institute of Australia’s president, Peter Bushby, has already responded to the announcement, and while he is not surprised by the steady rate he is in favour of the changes it has brought over the last month.
“Recent interest rate cuts and improvements in affordability are being converted into more loan commitments and higher auction clearance rates,” he said.
Mr Bushby highlighted the positive growth in the industry, pointed out that the first quarter of this year saw the proportion of income required to meet loan repayments drop by 0.5 percentage points to 29.9 per cent.