Three Rate Rises in 2026 — Here’s the Honest Conversation Nobody Else Is Having.

Let's not pretend this is easy. Three rate rises in 2026. The cash rate back at 4.35%. Mortgage repayments climbing. Cost of living still elevated. And the very real possibility that it isn't over yet. For a lot of Australians right now, that's not an abstract economic statistic. It's a pressure they're feeling every single month. Acknowledging that isn't weakness. It's the starting point for an honest conversation about what to do next.

What the noise is telling people to do

Stop. Wait. See what happens. And look, there's a version of that advice that makes sense. If your financial position is stretched, if your borrowing capacity is under pressure, if the numbers don't work right now — then waiting is the right call. Full stop. But for the investors who do have capacity, who have been sitting on the fence waiting for conditions to feel more comfortable — the honest truth is that comfortable conditions and good opportunities rarely show up at the same time. They didn't in 2020. They didn't in 2022. And they aren't now.

What rate rises actually do to property markets

They change who's in the room.

Owner-occupiers pull back. First home buyers stretch less. The emotional, FOMO-driven buying that pushes prices beyond fundamentals quietly disappears. And what's left is a market where serious investors with clear strategies and solid structures can move without competing against people who were never going to hold long term anyway.

That's not spin. That's the pattern that has repeated across every rate cycle in recent memory.

Australia's housing shortage doesn't respond to rate decisions. The structural undersupply that has been building for years is still building. Vacancy rates in high-demand corridors are still historically tight. Rental demand is still being driven by population inflow that isn't slowing down because the RBA moved 25 basis points.

What changes is sentiment. What doesn't change is the foundation underneath it.

What we've seen in our own client base

The investors who look back without regret — and we've worked with enough of them to say this with confidence — aren't the ones who timed the market perfectly.

They're the ones who moved when conditions were imperfect, with a clear strategy, the right asset, and enough patience to let time do its job.

Charl invested in 2021 when the outlook wasn't clean either. Five years later his property had grown over 100%. Not because he got lucky. Because he moved with conviction when others were deliberating.

That story isn't unique. It's what we see consistently when the process is right.

What matters more than the cash rate

Asset selection. Rental yield. Market fundamentals. Structural supply constraints. Population drivers. The kind of research that tells you whether a market will hold up through a cycle rather than just perform in ideal conditions.

This is the environment where that work separates good outcomes from poor ones. A property selected on genuine fundamentals in a market with real demand doesn't suddenly become a bad investment because rates went up. It becomes more important that you selected it correctly.

That's what Calla Property does. Not just find a property — build a position that holds up when conditions aren't perfect.

Because conditions are rarely perfect. And the investors who wait for them usually find they've waited too long.

Where does that leave you?

If you've been waiting for clarity — this is it.

Not the clarity that everything is comfortable and easy. The clarity that comes from understanding exactly where you stand, what the numbers look like for your specific situation, and whether now is genuinely the right time to move or genuinely not.

Either answer is useful. Neither answer comes from waiting on the sidelines without asking the question.

Reply to this email and let's have that conversation. No pitch. Just an honest look at your situation and what makes sense from here.

Get in touch and let's have a chat.

The market may shift, but the right strategy starts with an honest conversation.

Do you have any questions? Call us at:

+61 407 465 850 | +61 482 080 189