Offset accounts and redraw facilities both reduce the interest you pay — but they're taxed differently, and the gap matters most when you convert your home to a rental property.
After a third consecutive hike took the RBA cash rate back to 4.35% in May 2026, the fixed-vs-variable question has reopened. Variable still wins the new-loan data; more than a third of mortgage holders say they plan to fix this year.
As the Reserve Bank lifts the cash rate to 4.35% in its third consecutive hike, brokers continue to dominate Australia's home loan market — settling 76.7% of new mortgages worth a record $142.2 billion in the December 2025 quarter.
Rising interest rates reshaped Australian property investment. Now, with the RBA cutting and yields shifting, capital is moving — out of the capitals, into the regions, and toward asset classes that weren't on most investors' radar two years ago. Here's where the money is going in 2026.
