Brian Brady
A couple of week’s ago we were all hit with the news that the Reserve Bank was raising the cash interest rate to 4 percent. Now not that this really surprised anyone, but what does it mean for the real estate market this year?
First things first, 4 percent is still not very high as far as interest rates go and based on recent history we could be paying a lot more, but already we’re hearing of people that seem a little scared by these latest increases.
The main reason they are scared is not just because of the slight .25 percent interest rate increase – but also due to predictions that rates are still expected to rise further. On top of that there are the constant stories in the news about house prices getting too high for the average person to afford, so you can see why some people might be a little hesitant to get into the property market right now.
In reality there’s no reason to be afraid of the property market. We’ve been seeing a lot more investors looking at Everton Park real estate this year and many of these have done their research so they wouldn’t be getting into the market if they didn’t see lots of potential and opportunity to be had.
There are still some very affordable properties available and if rising interest rates really are a concern for you then you could consider either getting a fixed loan or maybe just being a bit stricter with your budget.
Overall I don’t think that we should be too concerned about interest rate rises because after all no matter how much we moan or complain there isn’t much we can do to change them. In my opinion property will always be a great investment so even if interest rates make people cool off buying properties for a little while this will simply mean that there are more great properties out there for everyone else!