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At Clarendon Homes, we’re excited to see more opportunities opening up for first home buyers. The Australian Government has announced that the First Home Buyer Guarantee Scheme will now begin on 1 October 2025 – three months earlier than expected.

At it's board meeting today, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) announced a 0.25% reduction in the cash rate from 4.1% to 3.85%. Many economists are forecasting three further cash rate reductions of 0.25% in 2025. The flow-on effect on interest rates is great news for prospective home builders and buyers, as well as homeowners, particularly those with a variable rate home loan. 

At its board meeting this week, the Reserve Bank of Australia announced it will hold the cash rate at 4.35%. This follows an increase in annual inflation with data last week showing an increase to 3.8% over the year to June. This is the first increase since the December 2022 quarter, with many economists now forecasting the cash rate will remain static until a cut in February 2025.

With the uncertainty around the future of interest rates - whether they will keep increasing or have reached their peak - our Clarendon Homes Construction Home Loan Specialists are regularly asked about limitations around pre-approvals and whether they are worth getting.

It has been well reported the cash rate has been going up, and with it interest rates for home loans. But what is the connection between the two? And what exactly is the cash rate? We break down how it could actually impact you.

As of 16 January 2023, first home buyers in New South Wales have the option to opt out of paying upfront stamp duty and instead pay an annual tax. The First Home Buyer Choice scheme was introduced by the NSW Government in a bid to help reduce the entry cost for buyers looking to get into the property market. Our Clarendon Home Construction Finance Specialists dive deeper to explore which works out cheaper - stamp duty or an annual tax payment.

Australians are feeling the pinch as interest rates rise across the board. Whether paying off a mortgage or saving to purchase property, the cost to service a loan is increasing. This combined with high inflation, growing cost of living and relatively stagnant wage growth has made it an important time to double down on saving money where possible.

The continued increase in interest rates this year will impact any homeowner with a variable-rate or split home loan, or anyone considering taking out a new loan. But it isn’t only repayments that will be impacted. The increasing cash rate also impacts borrowing power. But what is borrowing power and how much does an increase in cash rate and its flow-on effect to interest rates impact it?

Repricing v's refinancing: could you be you be saving money in a rising-rate environment?

With the recent hike in interest rates by The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), we have seen home loan interest rates increase across the board for both fixed and variable rates.

People with a variable-rate loan will already have felt the hit to their hip pocket, but there are options available to help you save money.

Our team of Construction Home Finance Specialists share common construction loan mistakes to avoid.

The past 18 months have yielded some strange outcomes in the housing market. Even as restrictions on building sites came and went, prices for housing sites continued to surge and demand has remained stubbornly high. Indeed, some experts suggest that those fortunate enough to get into the market even a year or two ago have made more on their properties in the past 12 months than they would earn in their day jobs. 

Where and how you’re living while your new home is being built needs to be as much part of your big-picture budgeting as the purchase of the house. It’s a common concern we see by customers in the early stages; How can manage rent and repayments? Particularly for knockdown rebuilds. But it’s also a concern we see customer after customer resolve in a financially stable, stress-free way.