The Board of the Reserve Bank meets tomorrow. In July last year Westpac forecast that the next easing cycle would total 100bps beginning near year’s end. Subsequently, the Board decided to ease the overnight cash rate by 25bps in both November and December. Based on current information, we continue to expect a further 50bps [...]

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A week ago experts were warning interest rates were going up. Now lenders are cutting them.Sydney-based banks – Commonwealth, Westpac and St George – led the pack yesterday reducing their interest rates on fixed-term loans.The fixed-term rates offered by these lenders are now well below the average discount variable rates which rise and fall with [...]

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In recent weeks there has been much talk of lower interest rates. Whilst this is great news buyers shouldn’t be certain that the “talk” will lead to reality. What is interesting however is that much of the talk is coming from the banking sector. In fact some of the major financial institutions have already began [...]

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Westpac has become the first major bank to predict a rate cut instead of a rate rise over the next year. The Reserve Bank will cut the interest rate four times in 2012 to avoid hurting an economy that is already showing signs of contraction, Westpac said today. ‘‘While the catalyst for the first rate [...]

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Homeowners can breathe a sigh of relief as the Reserve Bank today announced it will keep interest rates on hold for another monthThe RBA made the decision to keep the cash rate at 4.75 percent after a slowing economy saw an underlying inflation rate of just 2.4 percent, well within the target band. The decision [...]

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Most economists believe interest rates will remain on hold when the Reserve Bank meets today for the first time since the sharp fall in economic growth.The official rate is expected to remain at 4.75 per cent, despite the RBA issuing several warnings that rates will soon rise. It is the first time the bank has [...]

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HSBC’s chief economist says he expects the central bank to leave interest rates on hold until mid-year, even though inflation is showing signs of picking up.Paul Bloxham, a former Reserve Bank economist, said last week’s CPI numbers were “the beginning of the upswing in inflation.”“I think it is the beginning of a sequence of inflation [...]

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In the minutes of the monthly monetary policy meeting on April 5, the RBA said its board had noted that loan rates facing businesses and households were “a little above average levels”, thanks to earlier official rate increases.The RBA said that was appropriate, given the need to keep inflation consistent with the two to three [...]

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New home building will fall 15 per cent in 2011 as interest rates and poor affordability wipe out recent stimulus-driven gains, Australia’s peak residential construction body says. The Housing Industry Association predicts 25,000 fewer homes will be built in 2011 than 2010, a downwards revision from previous estimates, according to its National Outlook for the [...]

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Mortgage holders were given a boost today when the Reserve Bank decided to keep interest rates on hold.While the move is hardly a surprise, it will still be welcome news for people paying off a mortgage. Each 0.25 per cent interest rate rise adds another $60 to the monthly cost of an average Australian mortgage. [...]

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