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Michele Bullock

Mortgage calculator: How much extra will your repayments be?

The RBA has increased interest rates to 4.10 per cent. Use our calculator to see how much extra your mortgage repayments will be.

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Ricky Banga, 33, a real estate photographer, came to Australia in 2011 as a student to join his older brother. They ended up buying a house together in Craigieburn in 2015 (with help from Ricky’s wife, Sherry) and plan to stay there for a while.

What the Great Australian Dream looks like today

As house prices rise, young people are rethinking home ownership, and some are finding creative new ways to live.

  • Caroline Zielinski and Alice Uribe
Neil Robertson purchased his first home in Fitzroy for $7500 in 1972.

What was the Great Australian Dream?

Work hard, buy a home, maybe an investment property down the track: the rational decisions of the past have given way to a different future.

  • Caroline Zielinski and Alice Uribe
The difference in interest is costing you $50 a week.

I’m 73 with $19k in credit card debt. Should I use my savings to pay it off?

The interest you’re paying on credit card debt is slowly eroding your savings, but it can feel like a lot to pay off at once.

  • Noel Whittaker
Household debt has been rising.

How much debt households had when interest rates were 17 per cent, compared to now

Aussie households are carrying almost three times as much debt as they were in 1990, most of it housing. This is magnifying the impact of interest-rate movements on household budgets, experts say.

  • Dan F Stapleton
The state average for unpaid council rates has reached a historic high.

New rules ban ‘snowballing’ council rates interest amid debt crisis

One in five residents have fallen behind on rates in some Melbourne councils. An option for flexible payment for stressed ratepayers is now required by law.

  • Rachael Dexter
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Boomers are reshaping the way wealth is distributed. These charts show how

“The great wealth transfer” is in full swing as Baby Boomers remodel their balance sheets.

  • Matt Wade
Tennille Burup is looking to buy a unit.

‘Well-kept secret’: The Melbourne suburb where units are up nearly 30 per cent

Home buying hopefuls armed with help from the government have been flocking to more affordable property options, new figures show.

  • Caroline Zielinski
First-home buyers Christian Montti and Rhiannon Collins bought in Upwey after securing a guarantor and taking on more work to increase their borrowing capacity.

‘A lot more competition’: Melbourne house prices hit record high

Median house price reaches $1.1 million, the highest in four years, while units close in on fresh peak.

  • Wes Mountain
Single parent Logan Bell is one of thousands of low-income earners struggling to afford basic living expenses, according to a new report by QCOSS.

‘Spread so thin’: Single parents among those hardest hit by cost of living pressure

Logan Bell worked two jobs, studied full-time and looked for housing during the three months she spent living in a hotel with her daughter.

  • Courtney Kruk