‘Bought our first place together in a panic': Rate cut fear making Aussies scramble
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has cut interest rates twice this year already, first in February, then in May, and today it announced the rates have been sliced from 3.85 to 3.6 per cent.
It's great news for mortgage holders, but I truly believe if we didn't buy before today, we would have been screwed.
Buying in Sydney isn't just hard, it is 'full on war', as one of my close friends put it. It is expensive, competitive and anxiety-inducing. I'm 99 per cent sure it gave me reflux.
My boyfriend and I had been searching for months before we finally bought a place and nothing about the journey was easy, or even remotely pleasant.
It was downright awful at some points because we couldn't agree on anything. To add insult to injury, while we were arguing over what kind of place to buy, property prices were increasing.
boyfriend thinks every apartment in Sydney is too small, but he wouldn't say that, he'd say he just wanted to buy a reasonably sized apartment.
We came across some bigger apartments that he liked, but I vetoed them because I believed in my soul that they 'lacked a vibe,' which he claims isn't a legitimate reason.
I like places with character because I have a vision, but he's better at pointing out flaws. He rudely (perhaps correctly) doesn't believe I can fix everything just by watching DIY videos on TikTok.
Finding a place we both wanted to buy was tough and I've cried actual tears of frustration at different points, while he has done a lot of sad man sighing.
During our property search we inspected hundreds of apartments and agreed on trying to buy a mere three. Then all three times we were outbid.
That whole, third time is the charm thing, certainly isn't something I believe in anymore. To add to the stress of buying throughout this year we've watched in horror as prices in Sydney have risen.
According to Property Update, Sydney property values have increased by 6.5 per cent. To put that in perspective, we were looking to spend around $1 million, so that 6 per cent for us equals around $60,000.
We've noticed it too; places that might have sold for around $950,000 a few months ago are now easily selling for over a million. There have definitely been times when we've both worried we're getting dangerously close to being locked out of the market.
We were both selfishly relieved last month when the Reserve Bank shocked everyone and announced that the cash rate held at 3.85 per cent.
The RBA have delivered two rat cuts in 2025 and each time the property market has risen accordingly and as property hunters it was always brutal.
Rate cuts seem small, but lots of people we made small talk with at inspections discussed their belief 'rates were going to trend down,' and a small cut can have a massive impact on an already brutal market.
The fact that rates held steady in July made me even more serious about trying to buy before the rates were announced today.
The rate slashing that happened today was always our fear, because the market will now get an influx of new buyers.
It will push up prices further, which could have pushed us out of the market. For every mortgage holder who gets relief, it screws over someone trying to buy.
In the last month, I was trolling real estate listings like it was my full-time job, and thankfully, we found an apartment we both loved, and it is the one we ended up buying.
It had everything we wanted.
Two bedrooms, a small outdoor area, and a great location in a character-filled building. It was our dream place and I was desperate to seal the deal.
I feared that if we didn't, once rates were announced today, prices would go up again, and we wouldn't just miss out on the apartment, but we'd not be able to buy something similar.
I don't think we did anything radically different from the last time we tried to purchase places.
I think we were just lucky; it got passed in at auction, and then we made an offer.
Someone else also made an offer, but we were able to counter it, and we bought the place for just over $1 million,
Our mindset was different though, because we were both really certain we wanted to buy something before interest rates were announced.
The fact that we've managed to do this has made me feel so much calmer.
Craig McDonald, director of CBM Mortgages told news.com.au that he has seen potential buyers like myself panic as rates day approaches.
'People are ramping it up. There have been a few people who have even increased their pre-approval amount in terms of the purchase price. Just in order to snatch that property,' he said.
Mr McDonald argued that while no one can ever predict what the market will do, in general, when 'rates go down, property prices will increase', so he understands why people are keen to buy.
The mortgage expert said the panic surrounding interest rates has certainly been good for his business, and he can see that demand is likely set to increase.
'There's been an increase in inquiries from first home buyers, they're believing there could be a couple more drops to bring down those repayments and believing it is a good time to jump in the market,' he said.
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News.com.au
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