 Home loan rates left unchanged.. for now
Yesterday's decision to keep rates on hold may encourage people to make quick decisions about their home loan, fearing rate rises are near.
The Reserve Bank of Australia kept rates at 3 per cent yesterday, and home loan rates remain unchanged, but some economists predict we will see more cuts in the next few months.
However, first home buyers may be fearing rates have reached the bottom and with the first home owner's grant soon to end on 30 June, many will be comparing home loans now in order to take advantage of the grant.
However, AccountantsRus chief executive Adrian Raftery has told the Herald Sun that the grant has pushing house prices upwards over the last few months, meaning that the bonus could be wiped out by an over-valued property. "You think we would have learnt from the credit crunch. I would rather miss out on $24,000 from the government than to lose $50,000 or $100,000 down the track," he mused.
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Instead, he said, buyers should keep stashing money away in federal deposit savings account to build a hefty down payment to put on a property a few years down the line.
When the Reserve Bank cut official rates by 25 basis points in April, none of the banks passed on the cuts in full to home owners, with many just passing on cuts of just 10 basis points, and others none at all.
However, in previous months when the rate has been cut by a larger amount, most lenders passed on all or most of the cuts to home owners.
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