June 2025 Update | Why now might be the sweet spot for buyers – and a TurnKey Pro update
It’s been a pretty wet start to winter, but at least we’ve had some positive movement on the finance front.
The Reserve Bank dropped the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by another 0.25% at the end of May, bringing it down to 3.25%. No big surprises there, but it's still a welcome change. We could see a pause from here, especially if inflation starts to creep back up, but for now, the lending environment continues to improve.
We’re now regularly seeing strong fixed rates in the sub-5% range across 1, 2 and 3 year terms from most banks. Plus, cashback offers of up to 1% are still on the table for borrowers with good equity or deposit positions. It’s a good time to shop around and structure your lending smartly.
Upsizing without selling? It’s on the rise
In the last couple of weeks, I’ve helped a few clients who are upsizing into bigger homes without needing to sell their current place. Instead, they’re turning their existing properties into rentals, which is a great way to build long-term wealth and keep a foot on the property ladder.
In a couple of cases, the new homes were turnkey builds, which meant the clients could borrow up to 90% on the new purchase while keeping their existing homes at around 70%. With an overall LVR (loan-to-value ratio) under 80%, they were able to secure some of the sharpest rates from the banks.
The return of interest deductibility is helping here too, along with the fact that test rates (the rate banks use to assess affordability) have come down. That’s opening more doors for people who wouldn’t have qualified just a few months ago.
This next-home market is definitely growing. Lots of first-home buyers who bought smaller places a few years back are now looking for more space as their families grow. Retaining the original property means they avoid having to sell in what’s still a soft market, while setting up a tidy investment for the future.
First home buyers still active
We’re also helping plenty of first-home buyers at the moment. With house prices still near their recent lows and borrowing costs coming down, many see this as a window of opportunity. If you’re in this camp or know someone who is, now could be the best time in years to make the move.
A quick plug for TurnKey Pro
TurnKey Pro has been getting strong traction recently, especially with builders looking to scale without tying up too much capital. The big drawcard? No line fees, which makes it a much more cost-effective option than many traditional development finance products.
Our builder partners are especially loving our TurnKey funding calculator, which lets them quickly estimate funding costs on a project and provide sharper pricing on turnkey packages for their customers.
Some of our most successful builders are also keeping their funding costs down by tightening their build timeframes. That means:
Getting design and building consent sorted before land settlement
Starting earthworks early - in some cases, even before settlement, thanks to site access arranged with the land developer
Delivering faster, reducing interest costs, and freeing up capital for the next build.
As always, feel free to get in touch if you have questions, want to run some numbers, or just want to chat through your next move.