Independent finance reporting, named.
What moved this week, what it means for borrowers, and the trade-offs the headlines miss. Plain English. Named bylines. Dated sources. No paid placements.
Independent reporting on what borrowers actually need.
Filter by section, or browse all. The same named-and-dated discipline on every article.
01The Weekly Brief: five things that changed in Australian finance (10 October 2026)
Rates went up and the major lenders passed on the full rise. Inflation hit 4 per cent in August and home values fell for a sixth month. Card surcharges were banned, and some new fees appeared to replace them. Electric cars outsold petrol again.
02The major lenders passed on the RBA hike in full. See when your rate and repayment rise.
Every major lender passed on the full 29 September rate rise. Only the start date differed. BOQ moved first, from 2 October, and the big four from 9 October. Macquarie came last, from 15 October.
03Home values fell for a sixth month and Brisbane fell hardest. Buyers have the upper hand, if they can borrow.
Cotality's index fell 1.1 per cent in September, leaving national values 5.2 per cent below the March peak and flat on a year ago. Brisbane, the boom city of 2025, dropped 1.5 per cent in the month, and its auction clearance rate hit its lowest since 2008. City by city, what it means if you are buying, selling or refinancing.
04The Weekly Brief: five things that changed in Australian finance (28 September 2026)
The catch-up edition: the brief went quiet after 27 July, so this one covers the seven weeks from mid-August to today in five items. Rates turned, home values fell for a fifth straight month, real wages went backwards, regulators found fraud across 10 banks, and three money rules changed. Here is what each one means for your loan and your wallet.
05The RBA lifted the cash rate to 4.60 per cent. Here is what it costs you, and what November could add.
The Reserve Bank raised the cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.60 per cent on Tuesday 29 September, its fourth increase this year and a unanimous decision. The big four passed it on in full from 9 October. What it costs on a real loan, why the board hiked into a falling housing market, and what to do before the 3 November meeting.
06Rents are up, prices are down, and yields are at a seven-year high. Investors are leaving anyway.
Cotality's August figures put rents up 5.7 per cent on a year while home values sit 3.6 per cent below their March peak, lifting the national gross yield to 3.79 per cent, the highest since September 2019. The maths on an investment property has improved for the first time in years, just as tax changes and higher rates push investors out. Here is what the numbers mean for investors, and why renters in Sydney finally have some bargaining power.
07The EV FBT exemption now has an end date: what the draft law means if you're thinking about a novated lease
Treasury's draft bill keeps the full exemption for EVs committed to before 1 April 2027, then phases it down to a permanent 25 per cent discount from 1 April 2029. For most EVs under $75,000 the real deadline is March 2029, not April 2027. Submissions closed today and the law is not final.
08Inflation hit 4 per cent in August. The number the RBA watches did not move.
Consumer prices rose 4.0 per cent in the year to August, up from 3.5 per cent, as the fuel excise discount ended and electricity rebates ran out. The trimmed mean, the measure the Reserve Bank targets, held at 3.6 per cent for a third month. Why that is not good news, and what it means for the 3 November decision.
09Brokers now write 4 in 5 home loans, and the banks' own numbers show why they mind
Brokers wrote a record 81.6 per cent of new home loans in the June quarter. In the same weeks, CBA told investors its own-channel loans are 20 to 30 per cent more profitable than broker loans, and NAB pushed its own-channel share past half. Here is what that fight means for your rate, and the questions to ask whichever door you walk through, including ours.
10Operation Claw: a fraud ring faked incomes across 10 banks. Honest borrowers will pay for it in paperwork.
AUSTRAC's Fintel Alliance found potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in suspected mortgage fraud across 10 major banks, built on inflated incomes, fake business activity and the same brokers, accountants and law firms turning up again and again. The fraud was done by a few. The extra checks will land on everyone, and self-employed borrowers will feel them first.
11Card surcharges end Thursday. Your bill at the checkout mostly won't.
From 1 October 2026 businesses can no longer add a surcharge for paying by eftpos, Visa, Mastercard, American Express or UnionPay, with PayPal following on 5 October. The RBA estimates consumers pay $1.6 billion a year in card surcharges. What it does not advertise is that the cost is moving into the sticker price, not disappearing, and the ban is a card network rule rather than a law.
12A buyer's market nobody is buying in: spring 2026 for first home buyers
Capital city listings are up 24 per cent on a year ago, auctions are clearing at about 49 per cent against 72 per cent last spring, and investors have stepped back. For the first time in years a first home buyer has time and bargaining power. The catch is that prices are still falling, valuations are coming in short, and borrowing power is shrinking. The playbook for using the first without getting caught by the second.
13The RBA held at 4.35 per cent. Your lender is the one still moving.
The board left the cash rate unchanged on 11 August, its second consecutive hold, and Michele Bullock kept the door open to another hike. Meanwhile more than 28 lenders have trimmed variable rates since June without waiting for permission. The cash rate is not the number on your loan, and this month proves it.
14The Weekly Brief: five things that changed in Australian finance (27 July 2026)
APRA kept the 3 per cent buffer, 18 lenders cut rates anyway, Perth's boom finally blinked, and Wednesday brings the CPI print that decides the August cash rate. The catch-up edition of the numbers that actually moved, and what each one means for your money this week.
15The August pre-approval window: get assessed before spring, not during it
Spring listings arrive in September, assessment queues blow out with them, and this year two extra forces make August the month to get pre-approved: APRA just locked borrowing power maths in place, and Sydney and Melbourne vendors are meeting a falling market. The insider case for doing the paperwork now, while everyone else waits for the sun.
1618 lenders just cut rates without an RBA move. Your bank was not planning to tell you
The cash rate has not moved since May, but Bendigo is writing 5.89 for refinancers, Athena's one-year fixed is at 5.99, and ING, BOQ and a dozen others have quietly repriced their front books. Out-of-cycle cuts are the clearest tell in banking: funding costs have eased, credit growth has stalled, and the discounts are for new customers only. Here is what the repricing wave means and how to make it pay you.
17APRA kept the 3 per cent buffer. What the regulator actually said, and what the buffer costs your borrowing power
APRA decided on 28 May 2026 to leave the mortgage serviceability buffer at 3 percentage points, alongside its other lending limits, and it has not changed the setting since. What the regulator said, the refinance exception that does exist, and the worked numbers at today's rates.
18Wednesday's CPI print decides your August repayment. Here are the two scenarios
The June quarter Consumer Price Index lands at 11.30am Wednesday, and it is the single input that matters for the Reserve Bank's 11 August meeting. One number sends the cash rate to 4.60 per cent and adds roughly $95 a month to a $600,000 loan. The other parks the cycle and starts the countdown to cuts. What each scenario looks like, and what to do before the market reprices.
19Stamp duty by state in FY2026-27: the tax that can dwarf your deposit
Stamp duty is the biggest cheque a first home buyer writes after the deposit, and almost nobody budgets for it properly. The ACT abolished it for first home buyers from 1 July 2026, WA waives it up to $600,000, and every other state runs a full-exemption band and a phase-out. Here is the shape of the relief, why a softening market makes the concession worth more, and how to get the exact figure before you set your deposit.
20Cross-collateralisation: the default setting that traps investors in a falling market
When a bank secures two properties against each other it looks tidy at settlement and becomes a cage later. You cannot sell or refinance one without the bank re-underwriting the whole portfolio, and with Sydney and Melbourne AVMs printing lower, a single soft valuation drags your usable equity across the lot. How to spot cross-collateralisation, why banks default to it, and how to unwind it before you need to sell.
21The First Home Super Saver Scheme in FY2026-27: worth the hassle, or an offset in disguise?
The FHSSS is unchanged for the new financial year: $15,000 of voluntary contributions a year, $50,000 out in total, plus deemed earnings. The concessional cap just rose to $32,500 and payday super started 1 July, so there is fresh room. But the scheme only pays off for a specific saver, and the timing traps quietly disqualify the people who need it most. Here is who should use it and who should leave their deposit in an offset.
22Your HECS debt is quietly shrinking your borrowing power in FY2026-27
A HELP debt does not knock you out of a loan, but it eats into what a lender will lend you, and the 3 per cent APRA buffer amplifies the hit. With the compulsory-repayment threshold now $69,528 from 1 July 2026, here is exactly how lenders assess it, a worked example on a $95,000 salary, and the honest answer to the question everyone asks: should I pay it off before I apply?
23The family guarantee in a falling market: how to use Mum and Dad's equity without trapping it
A security guarantee lets a first home buyer borrow up to 100 per cent and kill the LMI, with a parent pledging a capped slice of their own home. In a Sydney and Melbourne market falling every month, that guarantee is riskier than it was a year ago, and it stays live for longer. Here is the mechanic, the LMI saving in dollars, and the blunt truth about what the guarantor is on the hook for.
24Friday Brief: five things that changed in Australian finance, 3 July 2026
The financial year turned over with payday super, a $32,500 concessional cap and marginal HELP repayments now live. May CPI printed 4.0 per cent headline but the trimmed mean went the wrong way, and August hike odds moved. Cotality's June index went negative nationally for the first time this cycle. The 3 per cent buffer is not moving, so rates alone decide borrowing power. And the banks just split on fixed rates. The week's actually-important stories.
25Missed the 30 June write-off deadline? What FY2026-27 actually gives your business
The EOFY tents came down on Tuesday night and the countdown clocks reset. Here is what the banners never said: the $20,000 instant asset write-off is now permanent, the June scramble was worth about $480 of timing value on a typical asset, and July is quietly one of the better months to buy. The worked maths for a tradie replacing a $75,000 ute and a cafe fitting out.
26What changed on 1 July 2026: every money rule that moved for FY2026-27
A tax cut worth up to $268, award wages up 4.75 per cent, a $32,500 super cap, a $69,528 HECS threshold, stamp duty abolished for ACT first home buyers, and a use-by date on the EV FBT exemption. Every rule that moved on 1 July, who it hits, and what it is worth in dollars.
27Cotality June 2026: the sharpest monthly fall since 2022 caps the quarter that repriced Sydney and Melbourne
The national Home Value Index fell 0.4 per cent in June, the largest monthly decline since December 2022, closing the first negative quarter of the cycle for the capitals. Sydney lost 3.2 per cent over the June quarter, Melbourne 2.6, and even Perth slowed to 0.7 per cent a month. What the quarter-end print means if you have been waiting to buy, and why refinancers should worry about the bank's valuation model before the bank's rate.
28The split loan: how to stop guessing the RBA in 2026
With the cash rate held at 4.35 per cent and APRA keeping its 3 per cent serviceability buffer, borrowers are frozen between fixing and floating. The split loan is the structure that lets you stop guessing: fix the part you need certainty on, keep the rest variable with a full offset.
29Debt Consolidation in a High-Rate Winter: When It Quietly Costs More
Credit card rates still sit near 20 per cent and personal loans run 8 to 14 per cent, so consolidating high-interest debt looks like an easy win. It often is for monthly cash flow. But the most popular move, rolling unsecured debt into the home loan, can leave you paying more interest over the life of the debt, not less.
30The chattel mortgage balloon reset hitting tradies in 2026
Utes, trucks and equipment financed in 2022 to 2023 carried 30 to 40 per cent balloon values that fall due now, and the residual is being refinanced off a 4.35 per cent cash rate instead of the near-zero deal you signed. The monthly difference is real money. Here is how to handle the reset before 30 June.
31Offset vs redraw: the package fee the ad never mentions
A genuine 100 per cent offset and a redraw facility look similar in the brochure and behave very differently the day you need your money. The difference matters most when you are stressed, and the $395 annual package fee can quietly erase the benefit on a small balance.
32The Fixed-Rate Cliff: How Banks Trap You on the Revert Rate
Borrowers who locked 1.9 to 2.4 per cent fixed in 2021 are rolling off across 2026 onto revert rates near 6.3 to 6.6 per cent. The day your fixed term ends, the bank drops you onto its carded standard variable, one of the highest numbers it offers, not its sharpest rate. Here is the 60-day playbook to stop that happening.
33Pre-approval theatre: the PDF in your inbox is not a promise to lend you money
Half the "pre-approvals" issued in Australia are system-generated conditionals no credit officer has ever read. Borrowers bid at auction on them, exchange unconditionally on them, and find out at formal approval what they were actually worth. The difference between assessed and automated pre-approval, why a February pre-approval is worth less in June after three hikes, and the questions that expose which kind you are holding.
34The 5.40 per cent savings account that pays 0.55: how bonus rate hoops actually work
The advertised rate on Australia's big bonus saver accounts is a conditional offer, not a price. Miss one hoop in a month, grow your balance by a dollar too few, tap your card four times instead of five, and the account reverts to a base rate as low as 0.40 per cent. On a $50,000 balance the difference is about $200 for that month. Who runs which hoops, where the pass-through went after the May hike, and the two accounts that just pay the rate.
35EOFY car deals: the 2.9 per cent finance offer that costs more than an 8 per cent loan
Twenty-two days to 30 June and the runout banners are up. Dealer finance at "2.9 per cent" or even zero is the EOFY hook, and it works because nobody prices the trade-offs: the discount you did not get, the balloon you owe at the end, and the fees in the comparison rate. The worked maths on a $48,000 ute, and how flex commissions died in 2018 but the dealer-finance margin did not.
36The bank's algorithm thinks your house lost $80,000: valuation shortfalls are quietly killing refinances
Sydney values have fallen for five consecutive months, Melbourne for six. Bank desktop valuation models have caught up and then some. Refinance applications that pencil at 78 per cent LVR on what the owner thinks the place is worth are coming back at 82 on the lender's automated valuation, which kills the deal or adds LMI. How the valuation stack actually works and the four moves when the number comes back short.
37The loyalty tax: the average gap has closed, but your own rate may not have
RBA data shows the average gap between existing and new variable borrowers has all but closed: in April 2026 outstanding owner-occupier variable loans averaged 6.00 per cent and new ones 5.99. An average hides a wide spread, though, and a borrower who has not asked in years can still be paying well above their bank's new-customer rate. The 15-minute phone call that fixes most of it, and the point where you stop calling and refinance instead.
38Friday Brief: 5 things that changed in Australian finance this week (6 June 2026)
The RBA decision lands 16 June with markets pricing a 75 per cent hold at 4.35 per cent. APRA kept the 3 per cent serviceability buffer. Big 4 cashback offers tightened. Super fund switching hit a 12-month high. EOFY tax planning enters its final stretch. The week's actually-important stories.
39Big 4 vs Athena, ING, Macquarie: the rate war scoreboard the banks do not want you to see
The Big 4 banks tell you their packaged products are competitive. The digital majors tell you they undercut on rate. The actual 2026 scoreboard: digital lenders hold a 35-50 basis point rate advantage on like-for-like prime owner-occupier P&I, the Big 4 win on bundling for offset-heavy borrowers, and the structural battle ends with the Big 4 losing share for another decade unless something specific changes.
40The "from 5.99% p.a." trap: every personal loan advertised rate is the marketing bait
You see "from 5.99% p.a." on the personal loan ad. Three in a hundred applicants get that rate. The median rate offered to the rest is 13 to 17 per cent. The advertising rules say this is legal. The result is consumers comparing on the wrong number.
41Your novated lease salary packaging provider just made $4,000 selling you a car
You see the salary sacrifice maths and think you got a tax win. The salary packaging provider sees the fleet-to-retail spread on the vehicle and made a margin you never see disclosed. SmartGroup, McMillan Shakespeare, LeasePlan, AccessOne. The structural mark-up nobody itemises.
42BNPL is the credit blind spot that quietly kills home loan applications
Afterpay, Zip, Klarna and Humm sold themselves as the alternative to credit cards because they did not show on your credit score. Three years later, the home loan you applied for got declined and the broker mumbled something about "the lender did not like the spending patterns". This is the gap nobody warned you about.
43Super fund fees in 2026: who is gouging, who is not, and the names you need to know
The Australian super system manages $4 trillion. Total fees extracted by the industry in 2026 will run to about $35 billion. A meaningful share of those fees do nothing for members. The funds doing the worst on fees vs performance, the funds doing the best, and what to do if your fund is on the wrong list.
44ASIC's broker review is theatre. Meanwhile the banks are quietly squeezing the channel
ASIC has spent 18 months loudly reviewing mortgage broker conduct under the Best Interests Duty. The result will be a report nobody reads. The same 18 months have seen the major banks tighten broker commission terms, lengthen accreditation requirements, and gradually rebuild the in-house channel. The squeeze is the actual story.
45The HEM figure lenders don’t show you, and why they should
Lenders test the living expenses you declare against a benchmark, usually the Household Expenditure Measure, and APRA expects them to use the higher figure. The benchmark table is licensed and not published, each lender applies its own version, and none of the lender pages we checked shows the number. What is known, and what to ask.
46Refinance cashback offers: read the claw-back clause before you sign anything
Every major Australian lender is offering refinance cashback of $1,500 to $4,000 in 2026. Most have a claw-back clause that pulls the money back if you refinance again within two to three years. The numbers, the lenders, and the trap they are setting.
47RBA June 2026 decision: cash rate held at 4.35 per cent, hikes still on the table
The Monetary Policy Board held the cash rate at 4.35 per cent on 16 June, the first pause after 75 basis points of hikes since February, and the minutes confirm the decision was unanimous. The statement kept a further hike explicitly on the table. What the hold means for variable and fixed borrowers, why the loyalty tax does its best work in quiet months, and why the 11-12 August meeting after Q2 CPI lands 30 July is the next decision that matters.
48Cotality May 2026: Perth lifts again, Sydney and Melbourne extend the slide
The combined-capitals Home Value Index rose 0.2 per cent in May, the weakest month of the cycle. Perth pulled the headline up; Sydney and Melbourne went backwards for the fifth and sixth consecutive months. What it means for buyers and refinancers.
49Westpac WA mortgage book: why arrears are running ahead of the national average
Westpac's 1H FY26 results showed national 90-day arrears up 0.27 percentage points, the largest move among the three reporting majors. Disaggregating the book reveals the WA exposure is doing the heavy lifting. What it means for borrowers and refinance shoppers.
50EOFY 2026: five last-minute money moves before 30 June
Concessional super top-up to the $30,000 cap, the EV novated lease lock-in window, work-related deductions, the $20,000 instant asset write-off for SMEs, and the private health timing rebate. Five practical moves still on the table this side of the financial year.
51Big-four 1H FY26 results: arrears creeping up, broker share holds above 76 per cent
ANZ, NAB and Westpac reported half-year results in early May 2026. Household 90-day arrears tracked up across all three, mortgage book net interest margins compressed, and broker channel share of new originations held above 76 per cent. What the numbers say about borrowing in mid-2026.
52Construction loan progress payments in May 2026: drawdown risk after three rate hikes
Construction loans draw down in stages tied to build milestones. With the cash rate at 4.35 per cent and build costs still climbing, the gap between approval and final drawdown is more expensive than it has been in a decade. What to budget for, and three ways to manage the risk.
53Mortgage prisoners in May 2026: who is trapped after three rate hikes, and the four ways out
An estimated 320,000 Australian households are now technically mortgage prisoners: stuck on their existing loan because their borrowing capacity under the current 3 per cent buffer falls short of their current loan size. Who is trapped, why, and the four paths out.
54Negative gearing: 12 days into the budget transition, here is what we actually know
Established residential property purchased after 7:30pm AEST on 12 May 2026 loses negative gearing from 1 July 2027. Investors are already restructuring. The catch: the measure is not law yet, and Parliament does not return until July.
55First Home Guarantee plus Help to Buy: how the two federal schemes interact in May 2026
The First Home Guarantee (no-LMI on a 5 per cent deposit) and Help to Buy (shared-equity contribution from the Commonwealth) are both running. They can stack with state grants. Where they overlap, where they conflict, and who qualifies for what.
56RBA June 2026 preview: at 4.35 per cent, the bar for a fourth hike is high
The board lifted by 25 basis points in May with one dissent for a hold and signalled scope to pause. Three things to watch between now and the 15-16 June decision.
57Cotality April 2026: home values rise just 0.3 per cent as the cycle softens
The combined-capitals index posted its weakest monthly gain since mid-2025. Sydney and Melbourne went backwards while Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide kept grinding higher. What it means for buyers, sellers and refinancers in May.
58ASIC 2026: broker conduct under the microscope, and the questions worth asking yours
ASIC has listed mortgage broker best-interest-duty compliance, complaints handling and audit practice as a 2026 enforcement priority. Mortgage broking now writes more than 75 per cent of new residential mortgages. A plain-English read.
59Budget 2026: $1,000 instant tax deduction without receipts, plus a $250 offset for 13 million workers
The 12 May 2026 budget introduces a $1,000 no-receipt tax deduction on the 2026-27 return (impacting 6.2 million Australians) and a permanent $250 Working Australians Tax Offset from 2027-28 income year for 13 million-plus workers. Who qualifies, how to claim, and when the money actually lands.
60The $20,000 instant asset write-off is now permanent law, and loss carry-back is back. What it means for SMEs.
What the May budget promised is now legislated. The Tax Reform No. 2 Act, which received assent on 26 August 2026, makes the $20,000 instant asset write-off permanent for businesses with aggregated turnover under $10 million from 1 July 2026, and lets eligible companies carry a tax loss back two years for a refundable offset. The rules, the cash-flow maths with equipment finance, and what to do before you buy.
61Budget 2026 for first home buyers: 75,000 more entrants modelled, plus what actually changed
The 12 May 2026 budget projects 75,000 additional first home buyers over the next decade from the negative gearing and CGT changes combined. The $2 billion housing infrastructure package, the schemes that did not change, and the practical read for an FHB looking to buy in 2026-27.
62Budget 2026: the 50% CGT discount ends for gains from 1 July 2027. Here is what replaces it.
The Treasurer's 12 May 2026 budget replaces the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount with cost-base indexation and a 30 per cent minimum tax rate from 1 July 2027. Gains that build up before that date keep the discount whenever you sell, and super fund holdings are unaffected. The dollar maths, by holding period and asset type.
63Budget 2026-27: negative gearing limited to new builds from 1 July 2027
The Treasurer's 12 May 2026 budget restricts negative gearing to new builds from 1 July 2027. Properties held at 7:30pm AEST 12 May 2026 are grandfathered. The honest read on what this means for existing investors, new investors, and the property market.
64Weekly brief: rates, property, jobs and EOFY, what borrowers should track this week
The data that matters between now and the June RBA meeting: April labour-force release, housing-finance lending stats, retail sales, and EOFY-period business credit. A one-page read for borrowers and SME owners.
65The refinance window opens: what we are seeing in May 2026
Refinance enquiries through the broker network are up 38 per cent week-on-week since the May RBA decision. Cashback offers are back on the major-bank panel for the first time since 2024. Here is the lender landscape, and how to read whether refinancing actually pays for you.
66APRA's 6x DTI cap: who is being declined now
From 1 February 2026, banks can only originate 20 per cent of new home loans at debt-to-income above 6x. Three months in, lenders are already at the cap. Here is who is being squeezed and where the 4x to 6x DTI band is now finding lenders.
67First Home Guarantee, six months without a places cap: how it has reshaped 2026
The 35,000 annual places limit was scrapped on 1 October 2025. Six months in, the scheme is being used differently than it was designed for. Here is what changed, who is benefiting, and the catches that did not go away.
68CBA, NAB, ANZ and Westpac pass on the full 25 bps from 15 May
All four major banks announced full pass-through of the RBA's May hike to variable home-loan customers within 48 hours. New rates take effect from 15 May. Here is what it costs at $500k, $750k and $1m, and where the non-bank panel sits.
69Car loan rates after the May hike: what borrowers are paying in mid-2026
Secured car loans pass through cash-rate moves faster than mortgages. After the May hike, the gap between the cheapest broker-sourced rate and the average dealer-finance rate is wider than it has been all year. Here is the maths, and where the green-loan discounts still hold.
70Equipment finance and EOFY 2026: making the instant asset write-off work without breaking cash flow
The $20,000 instant asset write-off applies for assets first used or installed by 30 June 2026. With rates higher than they were a year ago, the cash-flow trade-off between buying outright, financing through chattel mortgage, or leasing has narrowed. Here is the framework, and where the lender choice actually matters.
71Property investors at 4.35%: how the May hike rewires negative gearing
Higher interest deductions are not the same as better after-tax returns. With rents flat and the cash rate at 4.35 per cent, the maths for the typical Australian investor has tightened materially. A worked example.
72Mortgage hardship in 2026: what to do before you miss a payment
Roy Morgan puts 32.5 per cent of mortgage holders at risk of stress, the highest since 2008, and bank arrears are rising. Your lender is legally required to consider a hardship request and answer in writing within 21 days. The earlier you ask, the more options you keep and the cleaner your credit file stays.
73First-home buyers and the May rate hike: a stress-test, by state
A 5 per cent deposit FHB in Sydney now faces the highest mortgage stress reading in two decades, with the added risk of falling into negative equity. Here is the stress-test maths, by state, and when waiting six months is the right call.
74Refinance break-even maths at a 4.35% cash rate
The break-even calculation that gave a "no" at 3.85% often gives a "yes" at 4.35%. Lenders are competing for low-LVR refinancers with cashbacks, and the gap between the cheapest and the average has widened. Here is the formula and the threshold.
75Business loans at 4.35%: where SME credit is tightening, and what to ask your lender
The cash-rate move is not the only story. Behind the headline rate, lender risk appetite for unsecured SME lending narrowed through Q1, while asset-backed and invoice finance held up. The result is a wider spread, by product, than at any point since 2023.
76Should you fix your home loan now, with rates still rising?
Most pundits say wait and see. The break-even maths, when you actually run it, points the other way for a meaningful slice of borrowers. Three scenarios that decide it.
77Novated leasing in 2026: where the EV FBT exemption stands now, and what it means for your packaged car
The battery-electric exemption survives for now, but draft law released in September 2026 phases it down to a 25 per cent discount by April 2029. The plug-in hybrid window closed in April 2025. The luxury-car-tax fuel-efficient threshold moved again in February. The result is a narrower set of vehicles where novated leasing genuinely beats a straight car loan, and a small set where it dominates.
78How much will the May rate hike actually cost your mortgage?
The headline number is 25 basis points. The dollar number depends on your loan size and how much of the year's previous hikes you have already absorbed. Worked out, by loan size, with a state-by-state median-income lens.
79RBA hikes to 4.35%: what the May decision means for your mortgage
The board lifted the cash rate by 25 basis points, the third hike this year, citing imported inflation from Middle East fuel prices. Markets are now pricing 4.75% by year-end. Here is what changes for borrowers, in plain English.
80Five home loans that beat the big four this week
A non-bank, two customer-owned banks, and a digital lender are pricing variable rates between 0.40 and 0.65 per cent below the big-four average. The catch in each one, named.
81What every first-home buyer should ask before signing
Eleven questions to put to your broker, your conveyancer, and your lender before the contract goes binding. None of them are obvious. Most save thousands.
82RBA February 2026: cash rate raised to 3.85%
The board lifted the cash rate by 25 basis points to 3.85 per cent on 3 February 2026, the first hike since November 2023. The hiking cycle that followed has since taken the cash rate to 4.60 per cent.
Every byline is a named editor.
James leads the editorial direction of Your Finance Guide. 15+ years across major banks, fintechs, and consumer-finance journalism.
Sarah commissions and reviews home loan, refinancing, and lending-policy guides. Former credit adviser with a banking-law background.
Daniel covers vehicle and equipment finance, chattel mortgage, novated lease, asset structures, and instant asset write-off.
Lisa covers personal loans, debt consolidation, and household budgeting strategy. Background in financial counselling and consumer journalism.
Five things that changed in finance, every Friday.
One email a week. Free, plain-English, no upsells. Rates, banking, property, markets, super and policy, with what to do about each.