October 06, 2015
At today's Board meeting, the Reserve Bank of Australia judged it was prudent to leave the official cash rate on hold at 2% for the fifth consecutive month.
Mortgage Choice chief executive officer John Flavell labelled the decision “unsurprising” and said recent economic data did not warrant another cash rate cut this month.
“The lower Australian dollar has provided some support for the country's growth and inflation,” he said.
“Furthermore, new data shows business conditions remain relatively stable and property price growth continues to track upwards – albeit at a slower pace than the beginning of the year.”
Data from CoreLogic found property prices across the combined capital cities climbed 0.9% over the month of September – taking values 4% higher over the last quarter.
Melbourne was the standout performer, with the capital city recording dwelling value growth of 2.4%.
On the other hand, Sydney property values stagnated, with prices across the capital city climbing by just 0.1% over the course of the month.
“While Sydney's property price growth was fairly lacklustre this month, the capital city has performed incredibly well over the last 12 months,” Mr Flavell said.
“And it is not just property prices that are going from strength to strength. The Australian economy is tracking along fairly well at the moment, providing the Reserve Bank with no urgent reason to change the current monetary policy setting.”
“Of course, that is not to say we have seen the last of the rate cuts altogether. What happens both locally and abroad over the next few months will determine the future actions of the Reserve Bank. If consumer sentiment, business confidence and economic growth perform sluggishly, we may see the Reserve Bank cut rates again.”
