Rate rises wipe $100,000 from Australian homebuying budgets

Australian couples earning two average wages could lose an estimated $92,500 in borrowing power after four rate rises, even as home prices fall. Falling home prices should be good news for buyers, but a brutal borrowing-power squeeze means many could still be worse off. See the cities facing the biggest falls. Australian couples each earning the average wage could have almost $100,000 wiped from their homebuying budgets this year, even as property prices fall by tens of thousands of dollars. Canstar analysis shows three RBA rate rises this year have already cut the estimated maximum borrowing capacity of such a couple by $70,700.RELATED: Mystery couple’s $1 rent for homeless teens‘Market was dead’: Melb auction crowds surge Japanese cash rescues Melb housing market Canstar Data Insights director Sally Tindall. Picture: supplied. NSW real estate A fourth increase would take the reduction to $92,500 compared with the start of the year. For a single buyer earning the average wage, the estimated hit has already reached $35,400 and would rise to $46,300 after another increase. The figures come ahead of the RBA board’s next cash rate decision on Tuesday, with another rise threatening to ...