{"id":23266,"date":"2026-08-19T23:45:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T23:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mortgagecrushers.com.au\/?p=23266"},"modified":"2026-08-19T23:45:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T23:45:33","slug":"the-silver-lining-of-a-cooling-property-market-for-home-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mortgagecrushers.com.au\/?p=23266","title":{"rendered":"The silver lining of a cooling property market for home owners"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While rising prices were the talk of the town not so long ago, the tide has started to turn, with property values beginning to soften \u2013 but it\u2019s not all bad news for home owners.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

While we\u2019re far from a market collapse, it\u2019s only natural for home owners to be concerned that their valuable asset could be worth slightly less than it was a few months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, national home prices are now 1.8% lower<\/a> than they were in March, led by falling values in Sydney and Melbourne.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there may be an unexpected upside to cooling property prices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s the possibility that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) may think twice about hiking rates again in the near future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RBA is watching inflation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The RBA has made no secret of the fact it is aiming for inflation between 2-3%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trouble is, we are still a long way from that sweet spot, with inflation currently at 3.8%<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And here\u2019s the thing: \u201chousing\u201d makes up one of the largest single factors contributing to the Consumer Price Index<\/a> (CPI), which measures inflation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, when it comes to CPI, \u201chousing\u201d doesn\u2019t refer to the sale price or value of existing properties \u2013 but those sale prices do have a flow-on effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For starters, it\u2019s believed that lower house prices can make home owners feel less financially stable, and in turn, they tend to tighten their belts. And it can have the opposite effect when property prices are running hot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additionally, when the property market is doing well, and more homes are being bought, more appliances and furniture are also being purchased \u2013 not to mention renovations, extensions and the hiring of tradespeople.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it makes sense that a fall in property prices may help lower inflation, which could in turn reduce the odds of another rate hike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This isn\u2019t just a theory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RBA assistant governor Christopher Kent recently said that softening property market conditions \u201cheavily reduced\u201d the need for further rate rises<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When will home loan rates go down?<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t have a crystal ball. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s always hard to say with certainty how rates will move in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On one hand, in early August, RBA governor Michele Bullock cautioned that future rate hikes can\u2019t be ruled out<\/a> if inflation looks like remaining higher for longer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the flipside, most of the big banks now expect the next rate move to be down<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The catch?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even if the banks\u2019 forecasts prove accurate, they aren\u2019t expecting to see the cash rate fall before 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The RBA has also noted that it doesn\u2019t expect inflation to reach its preferred 2-3% target before mid-2027<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For home owners navigating higher rates, that could mean a long wait for any rate relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, you might not have to wait at all<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may be possible to make a rate cut of your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Competition among lenders: a strong case for refinancing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Competition in the mortgage market is seeing almost 50 lenders offer variable rates below 6%<\/a>, Canstar reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An owner-occupier who took out a home loan five years ago and who has never renegotiated, is likely to be paying around 6.97%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If that sounds like you, it\u2019s probably time for a home loan review.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Switching to a lower rate loan could see you save on repayments today, without waiting for the RBA to act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Call us for a quick home loan health check and to find out if you\u2019re eligible for a more competitive rate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disclaimer:<\/strong> The content of this article is general in nature and is presented for informative purposes. It is not intended to constitute tax or financial advice, whether general or personal nor is it intended to imply any recommendation or opinion about a financial product. It does not take into consideration your personal situation and may not be relevant to your circumstances. Before taking any action, consider your own particular circumstances and seek professional advice. This content is protected by copyright laws and various other intellectual property laws. It is not to be modified, reproduced or republished without prior written consent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While rising prices were the talk of the town not so long ago, the tide has started to turn, with property values beginning to soften \u2013 but it\u2019s not all bad news for home owners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23268,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mortgagecrushers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mortgagecrushers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mortgagecrushers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mortgagecrushers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mortgagecrushers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=23266"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mortgagecrushers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23269,"href":"https:\/\/mortgagecrushers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23266\/revisions\/23269"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mortgagecrushers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/23268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mortgagecrushers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=23266"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mortgagecrushers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=23266"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mortgagecrushers.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=23266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}