Finance

Cash earnings for the three months ended 30 June 2026 rose 2 per cent to $1.83 billion, with statutory net profit coming in just below at $1.81 billion. The gap between those two figures is thin, which tells you there were no large one-off items distorting the result either way.

The average interest rate on an outstanding variable-rate smaller loan to a small or medium business sits around 6.0 per cent, against roughly 5.0 per cent for larger business loans and 4.0 per cent for loans to large companies. Most of that gap is about security, not size.

The margin between a Federal Reserve rate hike and a hold just got a lot thinner. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers increased 0.1 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis in July after falling 0.4 percent in June, pulling the annual rate

Eleven weeks of sub-50 per cent auction clearances handed buyers the upper hand this winter. Values fell 0.7 per cent in July, and even last weekend's bounce left clearances 18 points below a year ago.

Self-managed super funds can no longer take out new loans to buy residential property. Existing loans are protected, contracts already exchanged can still settle, and commercial property borrowing survives.

CBA's investor loan applications are down 28 per cent since the May budget, Westpac's overall applications are down about 20 per cent, ANZ tips Sydney prices to fall as much as 14.5 per cent and NAB has cut its national forecast to minus 5.

Commonwealth Bank closed its 2026 year with a $10.9 billion profit, but the sharper number is investor home loan applications: down 28 per cent since the May budget, with total applications down 15 per cent.

Settlement day is the most financially exposed moment in a property buyer's life, and payment redirection scammers know it. One Perth buyer got within minutes of losing $1.2 million.