Rates & Credit

The cash rate is back at 4.35 per cent, and the RBA is signalling inflation now matters more than job-market comfort.

New stress data points to a brutal split: some suburbs are already at breaking point, but the next hit may still be coming.

Inflation is back above the RBA’s comfort zone, but the real damage may be hiding in everyday bank accounts.

Inflation is rising again as growth slows, leaving the RBA with no clean option and borrowers exposed.

Fixed rates are rising before many borrowers have caught their breath. The risk is not just paying more, but fixing at the wrong moment.

Your income may be up and your deposit may look solid, yet the bank still says no. That gap is where today’s housing frustration really lives.

Deposit rates can climb fast when the RBA tightens, but many Australians still earn next to nothing. The real stakes are not just yield, but what you do with spare cash next.

Home values are softening in the two biggest capitals just as rate fears build. What breaks first: buyer confidence or the downturn narrative?

Oil has grabbed the headlines, but a 4.10% cash rate is where the property squeeze gets real. The next move matters more than most borrowers think.

Australia is moving the opposite way to the US on rates. That gap could squeeze borrowers, lift political heat and test the economy. But where does it end?

Inflation was already proving sticky. Now the oil shock is threatening to push petrol, freight, building inputs and borrowing costs higher at the same time. For property investors, the real risk is not just dearer fuel. It is the prospect of rates staying high for longer just as sentiment weakens.

The government’s low-deposit push has helped more buyers get through the door. But in a softer market, that same policy could turn the entry-level segment into the first place investors see stress.

A new wave of property optimism is colliding with weak building numbers, stretched affordability and renewed rate anxiety. That tension could decide who gets locked out, and who adjusts fast enough to stay in the game.

A divided RBA board has raised a bigger question than the hike itself: was this really about Middle East tension, or did Australia’s own inflation problem leave the bank with nowhere else to go?