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State premier Dominic Perrottet has confirmed that first home buyers will have the option of opting out of stamp duty in favour of an annual property tax as part of the 2022-23 NSW budget aimed to improve housing affordability. From 16 January 2023, eligible first home buyers who opt into the First Home Buyer Choice...

The year is 2019. Some guy in the coffee line is talking loudly on the phone about investing in toilet paper. You are chuckling to yourself in disbelief. Poor guy, you remember thinking. Where’s the money in toilet paper? The year is 2020. You are no longer chuckling, but you’re certainly in disbelief. The year...

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has increased the official cash rate by 50 basis points to 0.85%. How much extra should you expect to pay on your home loan? Today’s cash rate hike is the second in as many months, with the RBA last month increasing the official cash rate from a record-low 0.10%...

The year is 2007. The first iPhone has just been released, along with Paris Hilton after 23 days in prison. APEC security have failed to distinguish the difference between real world leaders and The Chaser boys dressed up as Bin Laden. And after a long campaign, Kevin Rudd and deputy leader Julia Gillard have won...

Housing affordability was one of the key battlegrounds of the federal election with both major parties proposing radical policies in an attempt to woo voters. Now that Anthony Albanese has been officially sworn in as Australia’s new Prime Minister, let’s take a look at what housing policies Labor has promised the electorate. Help to Buy...

It’s getting a little chilly and we’re not just talking about the weather. For the third straight month, Sydney home prices have fallen and home lending eased, signalling that our once piping hot property market is beginning to cool. It’s a similar story across Australia, except for one capital city to our north that appears...

Can you buy a sandwich? That reads like a rhetorical question, but it’s not. As with buying property, buying a BLT with bitcoin is, in theory, possible. But in practice, your options are extremely limited. And if you’re starving, forgedaboutit. Back in 2019, the first widely reported crypto-for-food sale took place. Incredibly, the pantry item...

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has increased the official cash rate by 25 basis points to 0.35% amid high inflation concerns and has signalled more cash rate increases will likely follow. This is the first RBA cash rate hike since November 2010, and the first time the cash rate has moved since it was...

The chances of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) lifting the official cash rate on Tuesday just increased dramatically after figures showed the cost of living jumped 5.1% over the past year – the highest annual increase in more than 20 years. The unexpectedly high jump in inflation means a May rate hike is now...