Real Estate News 21 June 2025 - 23 October 2025

Buyers Pin Hopes on a Rate Drop, But Patience Wears Thin Despite sky-high home prices and a two-year slump in sales, homebuyer optimism is oddly resilient – largely because so many buyers are betting that mortgage rates have to come down soon. Consumer surveys show a majority of Americans expect borrowing costs to ease in the near future prnewswire.com. After all, 30-year mortgage rates have finally edged down from their 7%+ peak earlier in the year to around 6.2%–6.3% recently ts2.tech, which feels like progress. In fact, this month rates briefly hit 6.27%, the lowest level in about a year

Mortgage Rates Near One-Year Low After Fed’s First Cut Mortgage rates have dipped to their lowest levels in about a year, offering American homebuyers a measure of relief after the steep run-up of the past two years. Freddie Mac’s latest survey shows the average 30-year fixed rate at 6.27%, down from 6.3% last week foxbusiness.com. This is just above the year’s low (around 6.26%) reached a month ago and the lowest since early October 2024 apnews.com. By comparison, rates were roughly 6.44% a year ago and had peaked just above 7% in January apnews.com, so borrowing costs are off their

A Bond-Packed Palace: “Skyfall” Estate Goes On Sale Agents tout Skyfall as “truly breathtaking and completely unique”rightmove.co.uk. Every corner is themed – even a silver Aston Martin-style sculpture adorns the entrance. The six-bed villa was carefully renovated by its owners with attention to Bond lore (led by late designer Jamie Hempsall)jamesbondlifestyle.com. The Telegraph noted Skyfall’s turreted, fairy-tale appearancejamesbondlifestyle.com, and local folklore (incorrectly) linked it to actor Rowan Atkinson. Now it’s officially on the market for offers above £2,950,000rightmove.co.uk (reports round up to “£3 million”magzter.com). Inside, Bond fans will be in heaven. The library displays rare Aston Martin DB5 blueprintsjamesbondlifestyle.com. A curved chimney in the games

Key 2025 Market Highlights Residential Market Overview: Prices, Rents and Affordability After a brief downturn, the residential property market rebounded strongly through 2025. August marked the seventh consecutive month of home price gains, with values rising +0.7% nationally for the month abc.net.au. Prices are now up ~4% year-on-year, and the median Australian dwelling costs about $849,000 abc.net.au michaelwest.com.au. This broad recovery has lifted nearly every region – in August, values climbed in every state except Tasmania michaelwest.com.au – and experts note it’s being driven by classic supply-demand imbalance. “Once again we are seeing a clear mismatch between available supply and