Nearly 10,000 people across Australia who have taken out first homebuyer (FHB) loans this year with no intention to live in them amid a growing but necessary trend to get their foot in the door.

New data has shown a 21.4 per cent rise in ‘rentvesting’: first home buyers taking out loans for their first residence, then renting out their new houses and units.

One could almost hear the collective sigh of relief through the nation when the Reserve Bank finally lowered the interest rates! Even if it is only by 0.25% so far, at least it is a starting move in the right direction.

By now that decrease should have flowed through to your bank’s variable rate loan. Have you checked yours?

Recommended for the coffee table - ‘Ikigai’ is a Japanese book focussed on ‘secrets to a long and happy life’. It is a focus on philosophy, health and wellbeing with many ‘short reads’ of interest, and life rules that are mostly just common sense (but then given common sense seems to be not that common these days there is perhaps a real need for books like this).

Read more in our Your Money Matters February Newsletter.

The average Australian has a very short financial time frame.

In a general sense, we can be divided financially into three categories.

Many live week to week, keeping negligible savings aside. Then there are those who think about the months or the years ahead and plan accordingly. But the successful investors and businesspeople think in decades.

Hopefully you see yourself in that third group!

If you are questioning where property markets are heading in 2025, you are not alone! It is currently the most asked question I get. Of course, with Australia made up of multiple different property markets, the full specific answer to that will be very different for every person, but the general trends are interesting and can point to where an individual market can expect to go.

There are many pitfalls for unwary homebuyers. However, there are a few simple precautions that you can take to make the experience of buying a property an enjoyable and profitable one.

Are you one of the lucky ones still with a low fixed interest rate from ‘the good old days’? If so, congratulations! There are not many left.

As we head into a new year, it’s time to stop and take a breath.

Unfortunately, researchers report almost half of Australians don’t want to talk about money.

Surveys show 42% avoid discussing personal finance, a higher percentage than avoiding talking about religion (40%), sex (38%), or politics (23%).

With the 2022 National Construction Code (NCC) update taking effect in Victoria as of May 2024, new homes in the state must now meet a higher minimum energy rating of 7 stars, up from 6, alongside new whole-of-home energy consumption requirements. This shift aims to create homes that are more comfortable, energy-efficient, and affordable to run.

A temporary land transfer (stamp duty) concession for off-the-plan purchases within strata subdivisions has been announced by the Victorian Government. It is only eligible where a contract was entered into on or after 21st October 2024 and lasts for 12 months. Eligibility is based on the date the contract is entered into. It does not matter whether settlement occurs before or after the end of the 12-month window.

There are individual days in history that have the potential to change the world forever. The 2024 US election is certainly one such day. What is happening cannot be undone, a fork in the road to two very different destinies.

Buying the first home is a massive challenge, but as a parent there are a number of ways you can help.

Headlines and Interest Rates, Thinking Long Term and Geese Flying in a V

Read about all this and more in our August newsletter.

Are you still planning to buy your dream home?

There is a real concentration on saving a deposit to enable that dream home purchase: Continual discussions of affordability emphasise that, and for many it is the primary stumbling block.

However, there is more required to enable a successful loan application than that. Some do not realise how many hurdles, large and small, there are to overcome.

Today we concentrate on living expenses, how important that is in determining how much you can borrow – and if you really can afford that dream home!