Agents welcome surprise rate cut Agents and analysts have welcomed Tuesday's interest rate cut, with LJ Hooker describing the move as "historic." The Reserve Bank surprised many by announcing a cut in the official interest rate of 0.25 percentage points to a record low of 2.75 per cent. The senior economist of the Fairfax-owned Australian Property Monitors, Andrew Wilson, said there was no sign of a winter slowdown. He had described the Sydney market as "flying" after last weekend's 78.1 per cent auction clearance rate. Dr Wilson said it would also help generate house price growth, although he warned that the "performance of local economies remains the key." Transaction numbers are increasing and buyer inquiry is up but the issue agents are having at the moment is there is not enough listings to meet the demand. Tuesday's announcement followed three months of rates being kept on hold, with the last cut of 0.25 percentage points in December. Rates have now fallen by a full 2 percentage points since the beginning of the current easing cycle in November 2011. However, he added that housing had been a beneficiary of low interest rates this year, with forward indicators such as auction clearance rates and housing loans clearly ahead of last year results.