Property & Economy
ABS housing finance falls 5.4% as investors retreat
ABS data shows 134,225 new dwelling loans in June 2026 quarter, down 5.4%, as investors pull back hardest and first-home buyers borrow bigger.
RBA
Coverage of the Reserve Bank of Australia — cash rate decisions, statements and forecasts, and how each move reaches mortgages, rents and business costs.
8 stories
Property & Economy
ABS building approvals rebound 7.2% but units still fall
ABS building approvals rose 7.2% to 18,328 in June 2026, with houses up 15.8% year-on-year while multi-unit dwellings fell 1.5%, the stock renters need
Property & Economy
RBA survey: most Australians get interest rates backwards
More than half of Australians surveyed by the RBA think higher interest rates push inflation up, not down, and it changes how monetary policy actually
Property & Economy
Will the RBA Raise Rates in August 2026? Our Model Just Flipped to Hike
Headline inflation fell to 3.8% on 29 July, yet services and non-tradables inflation both rose and the trimmed mean did not move. Our ten-driver framework crossed its hike boundary by 0.03 — with the four strongest objections to that reading set out in full.
Property & Economy
ABS CPI release moves earlier from 2027, skips weight update
The June 2026 quarter CPI landed on 29 July with two structural changes: earlier monthly releases from February 2027 and no mid-year weight update
Property & Economy
Australian wages growth steady at 3.3%, private sector cools
Australia's Wage Price Index rose 3.3% in the year to March 2026, but private sector pay slowed to 3.2% as new home loans fell 6.2%.
Property & Economy
Productivity grows, wages lag: Australia's housing squeeze
The Australia Institute asks why wages lag productivity. The answer reaches every mortgage application and rent payment in the country.
Property & Economy
Three hikes, then a pause: the public data lean HOLD for the RBA’s August decision
Australia’s next interest rate decision is 2:30pm, 11 August 2026. An independent, source-linked framework reads the public data as HOLD at 4.35% — with a live hike risk.