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Week of 28 September 2026
What a rate rise
actually costs you.
Illustrative figures. A rate rise is a known number. Rents move the other way.
1.0 The Signal
The Reserve Bank meets on Tuesday 29 September. Before the meeting, markets had put the odds of a quarter-point rise, from 4.35 per cent to 4.60, at 80 to 90 per cent.
So here is what a quarter of a point actually costs. On a $600,000 interest-only loan, it is about $1,500 a year. That is $29 a week.
Twenty-nine dollars a week is a number you can plan for. A headline is not.
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2.0 The Numbers
| RBA cash rate, before the 29 September meeting | 4.35% | | Owner-occupier variable rates, range | 6.24% – 6.62% | | Brisbane house rents, past year | +6.7% | | Brisbane home values, past 12 months | +10.8% | | National vacancy rate, August (pre-COVID average 3.3%) | 1.9% |
Sources: RBA, Cotality (August 2026 data), Rose & Jones QLD, SBS News, Property Update. Rates and values as reported in September 2026.
One thing to keep straight. The cash rate is not what you pay. Borrowers pay the bank's lending rate, which is the cash rate plus the bank's margin. Right now that is between 6.24 and 6.62 per cent for owner-occupiers, and higher for investors.
Now look at rents. Brisbane house rents are up 6.7 per cent in a year. On a $700 a week house, that is about $47 a week, and nobody had to announce it. The national vacancy rate is 1.9 per cent, well under the 3.3 per cent that was normal before COVID.
The rate on paper and the rate you pay are not the same number.
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The asset has to pay for itself at the rate the bank actually charges.
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There is a lot of doom and gloom in the media right now. Underneath it, some areas are growing and there are some very strong opportunities out there. I source excellent cash flow properties off market from all around the country, and each one is assessed at today's lending rates, not the cash rate. If you want to see what is available, the booking link is below.
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The Free Guide
How do you get ahead while everyone else waits?
The media will keep arguing about the next rate move. The investors getting ahead are doing something simpler. They buy cash flow first and let time do the rest.
The free guide sets out the new rules, and where the opportunity has moved.
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If you want to run the lending-rate test on a real package, call or text me direct on 0418 813 825 — or
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Because in the end, this was never really about the cash rate.
It is about freedom. Governments will keep changing the rules at the edges and the media will keep reporting each one as the end of something. The fundamentals underneath have not moved.
Buy what pays for itself at the rate the bank charges. Hold it through the noise. The people who keep building quietly are the ones who end up free.
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