QPIA qualified buyer’s agent Lauren Jones reveals how a rate cut could impact Brisbane’s property market.
First published on February 8th, 2025, by Property Journalist Viva Hyde. Click to read original.
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How much could you save from interest rate cuts?
Homeowners could save up to $400 a month in some suburbs after just one rate cut, with struggling Queenslanders eyeing relief within weeks as pressure mounts on the Reserve Bank to act.
With markets now pricing in four interest rate cuts this year, household savings could rise as much as $1,640, with new data revealing how a series of cuts will impact mortgage holders across the state.
PropTrack’s suburb-by-suburb breakdown shows homeowners in high-demand areas like New Farm, Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast, and Sunshine Beach on the Sunshine Coast could have between $1560 and $1640 extra in the kitty after four rate cuts. Current mortgage repayments in these blue-chip suburbs average between $14,470 and $15,250 per month.
Households in the similarly cashed-up enclaves of Hamilton and Ascot as well as Bundall on the Gold Coast would save $300 a month after just one cut.
By comparison, citywide figures showed homeowners paying off a 30-year mortgage for a typical Brisbane house priced at $890,000 would save $120 after one rate cut, and $470 after four.
In the more affordable fringe suburbs, a Logan Central house owner earning $51,600 a year, and currently paying off $3,150 a month, would have an extra $80 to put food on the table by next month, if the RBA acts, rising to $340 after four cuts.
Buyers’ agent Lauren Jones said it had become “almost impossible” for buyers whose borrowing capacity was less than $500,000 to get on the property ladder.
“I’m seeing a lot of first-home buyers priced out of the Brisbane property market for good,” Ms Jones said.
“More investors are wanting to get in sooner than later, as they believe the market will shoot up again once rates drop.”
Buyers’ agent Lauren Jones
Canstar’s data insights director Sally Tindall said: “The last two and a half years have been incredibly tough for households with a variable rate mortgage, particularly those that overstretched themselves to get into an overheated property market when rates were at record lows.”
Ms Jones said lower-income households who bought when rates were around 2 per cent were worst affected.
“Many are having to sacrifice on things like holidays away, or trying to work additional hours,” she said.