Even as the RBA chooses to keep interest rates stable, the Federal Government has implemented measures to cool the rising property market. This has resulted in a decline in new listings and housing sales in major cities and a decline in real estate purchases by foreign buyers.

Macroeconomic indicators, such as GDP growth, household income and consumption continue to strengthen, with labour participation increasing and the unemployment rate falling to 5.4% in June as 41,200 full time jobs were created.

The RBA continues to maintain the cash rate at the same level due to a below-target inflation rate and high consumer debt that makes many households’ consumption rates sensitive to the mortgage rate. Household debt recently reached 190.0% of total annualised household income.

The online real estate classified market is dominated by two players, the REA Group and Domain, which together hold 98.0% of the market. Both players reported strong annual results, with about 20% revenue growth for FY18.

Despite the dominance of the two players, new start-ups continue to enter the market in the hopes of grabbing a slice of the lucrative property classifieds market. However, to date, none have gained any material traction in the Australian market.