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RBA cash rate decision – September 2017

Sep 2017 - AU Mortgage News

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) board has decided to hold the official cash rate at 1.5%, meaning it has now been 13 months since rates changed in August last year.

This decision was widely predicted by finance and economics specialists around the country including the entire panel of 33 experts polled in the finder.com.au RBA Survey and 93.6% of all mortgage brokers interviewed by HashChing.

CoreLogic head of research Tim Lawless said further evidence of slowing housing market conditions in Sydney and Melbourne was likely on the table when the RBA board made this decision today.

“These are the two housing markets that have caused the most concern for policy makers because of the previously high rates of capital gain that had been running since early 2012, coupled with record high levels of household debt and high concentrations of investment,” he said.

Tighter credit policies have done a lot of the heavy lifting with regards to cooling the markets in Sydney and Melbourne, he added, saying that a cash hike is “highly unlikely” to occur this year. This was especially possible thanks to higher rates for investment and interest only borrowers which were contributing to the market slowdown.

“Importantly, mortgage rates for owner occupiers are generally unchanged, and for some products have actually fallen over recent months.”

The hold decision will be welcome in markets outside of Sydney and Melbourne, he said, where regulatory and lending change imposed nationwide is generally seen as harmful amidst mild to negative growth conditions.

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