Empower Blog Cash Rate

RBA Cash Rate & Property Outloook for 2011

For those not in the know, the RBA board does not meet in January, so the first cash rate decision will be at 2.30pm on Tuesday 1st February, 2011. In terms of the cash rate forecasts, there is a real mixed bag out there in terms of predictions of where the cash rate might be between now and the end of 2011. There is very little, if any support ...

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RBA Rates Decision – December 2010

Given Glenn Stevens’ recent speech last month that he saw no reason for a further rate rise this year, it was no surprise that the cash rate remained on hold, following the RBA board meeting and cash rate announcement today. The economists are mixed in their view of what the future holds regarding rate rises, some are predicting further rate r...

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RBA Rates Decision – November 2010

Unless you have been living under a rock you would by now know that the RBA lifted the official cash rate by 0.25% to 4.75% yesterday afternoon.  The first rise in over 6 months.  They saw it prudent to move the cost of money higher, in light of the relatively strong economy and a growing global outlook.  This will most likely be the last rate r...

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RBA Rates Decision – October 2010

The warnings came early this month when the RBA Governor made some hawkish comments about the health of the Australian economy.  He said the RBA is ready to manage robust growth, stating “part of that task will, clearly, fall to monetary policy.” He noted potential downside risks to the economy, but said “If downside possibilities do not mat...

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Rates on the Rise….?

I can understand why we are referred to as the ‘Lucky Country’.  Great climate, enough fertile land to produce food to support our population & provide a great quality of life and standard of living, stable government (well sort of) and the most important thing from an investors view point - an economy that has grown over the last 20 years...

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RBA Rates Decision – September 2010

The cash rate remains on hold for another month as the RBA sits on its hands awaiting the latest inflation data for the September quarter due out 27th October. There are growing concerns that the global recovery is stalling and we are heading for a ‘W’ shaped recovery rather than the ‘V’ shaped one the global economic stimulus tried to a...

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RBA Rates Decision – August 2010

The cash rate remains on hold this month after good news on lower than expected 2nd quarter CPI (Inflation) data last week.  The RBA believe the current cash rate setting is adequate for the time being. There is still upward pressure on rates as our economy is in very good shape compared to the rest of the world.  The upward pressure remains d...

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RBA Rates Decision – July 2010

Today the RBA announced to hold the cash rate for the month of July at 4.5 per cent.  It’s welcome news to all mortgage holders across the country, who have seen their mortgage interest costs on a variable home loan increase dramatically from the historic lows of 3 per cent in early 2009. Let’s take a look at a $300,000 variable, interest-o...

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Rents On the Up

The recent interest rate rises are doing what the RBA had hoped in terms of slowing down the demand in the property market in a general sense. By increasing the cash rate the flow on effect is felt across all facets of the residential market. The first impact is the reduction in borrowing power, as the banks move their lending assessment rates ...

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RBA Rates Decision – June 2010

Today the RBA announced to hold the cash rate for the month of June. That’s after several recent increases that have, in the view of the RBA moved the cost of money back to historically midpoint levels. The next move on rates will be an interesting debate given the recent events of the Euro zone and the ripple effects this is having on the glo...

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RBA Rates Decision – May 2010

Today the RBA announced it would increase interest rates a further 25 basis points to move the cash rate to 4.5%. This is the 6th rate rise in the last 7 meetings of the RBA and the cash rate has now risen back to similar levels as December 2008. The focus will again be on the Banks to see if they follow the RBA’s lead or move rates of their own ...

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RBA Rates Decision – April 2010

Today the RBA announced it would increase interest rates a further 25 basis point to move the cash rate to 4.25%.  They are trying to take the heat out of the booming housing market, as a threat of a bubble is forming due to the historical low rates implemented during the GFC.   Yet our quick recovery out of the GFC to avoid recession has seen t...

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RBA Rates Decision – March 2010

Today the RBA announced an increase in the cash rate of 0.25% to bring the cash rate to 4%.  This is the first increase in 2010 and follows three consecutive increases in late 2009.  The RBA decided to increase the rate based on positive economic news within the Australian economy, led mainly by the improvement in the level of unemployment. Th...

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