Rate cut pressure grows; house prices up; $200m payday for airline CEO
Published: June 01, 2025
Rate cut pressure grows; house prices up; $200m payday for airline CEO
News in brief
Trade Minister Don Farrell yesterday hit out at Donald Trump’s decision to double tariffs on Australian steel and aluminium, calling it an unfriendly act. Over the weekend, Trump announced plans to increase tariffs on imports of steel from 25 to 50 per cent to “further secure the steel industry in the United States”.
It was a big weekend for auction with almost 3,000 homes across the capital cities going under the hammer though prices aren’t exactly surging. The preliminary clearance rate fell a touch to 70 per cent. It was also the end of the month and Cotality’s national Home Value Index rose another 0.5 per cent in May, taking the national index 1.7 per cent higher over the first five months of the year.
The Australian Financial Review’s annual rich list is out and while some of the wealthiest people in the country have gone backwards, the total value of the 200 largest fortunes has jumped 7 per cent to $668 billion. Once again, Gina Rinehart tops the list.
The internet advertising market in Australia continues to surge, with spend reaching $4.2 billion in the March quarter. The IAB Australian Internet Advertising Revenue Report shows that video advertising fuelled a 12pc jump in advertising, and almost $3 in every $10 is spent on video.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary has qualified for share options worth more than €100mn ($200 million) after the airline’s shares hit a key performance target, paving the way for one of the biggest payouts in European corporate history.
Fear-o-meter
Two weeks ago, we were all worried about inflation. Suddenly it’s economic growth that’s the problem.
A run of data last week – retail trade, building approvals, business investment – all point to a weak economy. How much the Reserve Bank is worried will become clearer when the minutes of its recent board meeting are released tomorrow.
Official March quarter GDP data is due out on Wednesday, and we are likely to see an economy running at a 1.5-1.7pc pace. That’s not particularly good given we had a rate cut in February.
The pressure will be on the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates when it next meets in early July.
Who's talking today?
On a $1.7 billion joint venture with US-based Monroe Capital and Japanese bank SMBC, and the future of co-lending:
"We've always thought that partnership is going to be the next evolution of private credit. What happens when you partner in the world of lending is that you bring together the best of loan origination, underwriting capabilities, and then portfolio management discipline. This is a really big step change, we think, because to date, the rhetoric in private credit has all been about 'these are new asset managers stealing share from banks'. And that's actually just not true. There's some things that banks are really good at. There's some things they aren't. And there's some ways that we can actually partner together."
It’s Monday the 2nd of June 2025, and the chance of more rate cuts in coming months is growing with the retail, construction and business investment sectors showing few signs of strength. That is likely to be confirmed this week with the release of March quarter economic growth figures.
Greed-o-meter
| City | May increase | Median value |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 0.5% | $1,203,395 |
| Melbourne | 0.4% | $791,303 |
| Brisbane | 0.6% | $917,992 |
| Adelaide | 0.4% | $829,695 |
| Perth | 0.7% | $813,810 |
| Hobart | 0.6% | $673,858 |
| Darwin | 1.6% | $525,770 |
| Canberra | 0.4% | $855,663 |
| Combined regional | 0.4% | $678,818 |
| National | 0.5% | $831,288 |
Forwarded from a friend? Sign up to our daily newsletter
As mentioned above, house prices rose another 0.5% in May, according to Cotality's national Home Value Index. May saw an increase in every capital city, and in regional areas too. Here's how your area performed:
Listen to today's episode 🎧
Source: Cotality, formerly CoreLogic
Join us on Thursday for a special event!
Fear & Greed's Michael Thompson is launching his second novel, and we're having celebration. Join us for the launch of All The Perfect Days, just a fortnight after its US release - along with the first-ever live recording of Fear & Greed's Weekend Edition.
This is a free event on Thursday June 5 at Business Sydney - book your ticket here for a great evening.
And if you can't make it, but would still like to support an Australian author, you can preorder the novel here.