Cloudy 19° 
Whilst it was certainly no surprise that the reserve bank lifted the official interest rate today it was a surprise that they raised the rate by just 0.25 percent.
Recent comments from the majority of financial commentators indicated that the RBA would raise rates by 0.5% based on increasingly positive employment and spending data in an effort to ensure inflation doesn’t soar. Personally, I see the 0.25% rise as welcome news rather than a sudden sharp jump. The property market will better accept a moderate rise in rates over a sustained period of time. Certainly, the buyer activity around the area in recent weeks shows that buyers have a very strong opinion of the local proeprty market at the moment and a couple of moderate rate rises isn’t expected to have an adverse effect.
Of course, when the RBA lifts official rates the race is on between the banks to get their rates up. The winner this time round? ANZ lifted their variable rate by 0.25% within minutes of the RBA. No word from the other major players yet but they’re all expected to announce rate rises with the next 24 hours.