THE AUSTRALIAN: Homeowners in 95 suburbs around the country are now living in houses worth seven figures after last year’s stronger-than expected price growth pushed them into the million-dollar club and added more than $200,000 to values in some areas. A suburban pocket in Brisbane’s south experienced some of the highest price growth of all the new joiners to the list of locations where median house prices are now above $1m, according to analysis by housing researcher PropTrack for The Australian. The neighbouring suburbs of Sunnybank Hills and Sunnybank topped the list after prices rose more than 20 per cent last year, adding $208,799 and $204,253 to respective house values. It is a similar story in nearby Calamvale, Macgregor and Kuraby, where house prices rose by more than $150,000 in 2023. PropTrack senior economist Paul Ryan said buyers were looking further from city centres to secure affordable housing, after property prices unexpectedly rose more than 5 per cent nationally last year.
THE AUSTRALIAN: Households could see mortgage repayments fall by hundreds of dollars a month with the Reserve Bank poised to lower interest rates in the coming months. But looming savings for mortgage holders could be unwelcome news for first-home buyers, with housing affordability tipped to further deteriorate as experts predict that rate cuts will set off another house price boom. Economists forecast that the RBA will hold the cash rate at 4.35 per cent at the conclusion of its first meeting of the year on Tuesday, and that further inroads into inflation and a slowing economy will pave the way for interest rate cuts in the second half of the year. Money markets have priced in two 25-basis-point cuts in 2024 – the first in August and another in November to see the cash rate fall to 3.85 per cent. Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, ANZ and National Australia Bank all expect between one and three cuts this year. Analysis from Rate –
City.com.au shows that a single 25-basis-point cut will cut about $76 a month for a $500,000 loan, $113 a month for a $750,000 loan, and $151 monthly for a $1m loan.