4 June 2026

Refinancing in 2026 is a different question to the one borrowers were asking a year ago. After three rate cuts through 2025, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has lifted the cash rate three times this year, and at the time of writing it sits at 4.35%, back at its previous peak, with variable home […]

Buying your first home is a significant step, and while you handle numbers for a living, first home lending sits in its own specialist corner that even a financially literate buyer can find opaque. With property prices high, serviceability tight because lenders assess every loan at the actual rate plus 3 percentage points under Australian

Negative gearing has always turned on the loan, since the interest is usually the largest deductible cost of holding an investment property, and the May 2026 Federal Budget has now changed the rules in a way that makes the financing decision more consequential than it has been in years. As an accountant, you understand the

The weeks before 30 June are when the tax return gets your full attention, and as an accountant you need no help with the deductions side of an investment property. What is easy to leave on autopilot is the finance behind it: the loan structure, the timing of a refinance, and the way your borrowing

After years of repayments and rising property values across much of the country, many accountants are sitting on more equity in their home than they realise, and that equity can fund the deposit on an investment property without saving a fresh sum from scratch. With variable rates around the 6% mark and lenders assessing every

Borrowing conditions have tightened in ways that catch even strong applicants, with lenders required to assess every loan at the borrower’s actual rate plus 3 percentage points under Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) rules, and variable rates sitting around the 6% mark. For accountants there is an added irony: a profession that understands money better

With variable rates sitting around the 6% mark and lenders still assessing borrowers at their actual rate plus 3 percentage points under Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) rules, where you hold your spare cash against a mortgage has become a real financial decision rather than an afterthought. Two features dominate that decision: the offset account