Yesterday's shock one per cent rate cut from the Reserve Bank has given renewed hope for Australia's housing markets. The Housing Industry Association is happy with the significant cut to official rates, saying there is now hope for potential first home buyers as well as current mortgage holders. 
``Falling interest rates over the next 12 months may provide some assistance in pegging the gap between underlying and effective demand for housing,'' the HIA's Branch Manager Northern Tasmania Nick Proud said. ``Increases in interest rates were the final straw for many current and aspiring home buyers, rate cuts will provide some necessary relief.''
``Put simply, if you can afford to get into a home of your own don't delay,'' Nick Proud said.
The latest reduction will see a saving of $143 per month on a $200,000 mortgage, which is more than $1700 a year.
The interest rate has not been cut by one full percentage point since 1992, and official cash rates are now at 6 per cent.
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