Low CPI is good news for buyers, renters

THE June 2017 quarter CPI figures suggest the continuation of historically low interest rates for some time yet which is good news for homebuyers and renters, according to the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA).

REIA president Malcolm Gunning said the All Groups CPI increased by 0.2 per cent in the June quarter giving an annual increase of 1.9%.

“This is marginally lower than the annual increase to the March quarter of 2.1%,” Mr Gunning said.

“The annual change for both the analytical series of trimmed mean and for the weighted median was 1.8% with the annual change in the trimmed mean being the same for the past four quarters and the weighted mean up by 0.1 percentage points compared to the year to the March 2017,” he said.

“This is below the RBA’s target zone of two to three per cent and suggests the continuation of historically low interest rates for some time yet.

“The Housing Group increased by 0.3% for the quarter and 2.4% for the year to June 2017 with rents increasing by just 0.2% for the June quarter and 0.6% for the year.”

Mr Gunning said the major contributors to the increase in the Housing Group were new dwelling purchases and gas and other household fuels.

“For the last three quarters the annual changes have been 0.6%.”