Aussies simply aren’t feeling financially optimistic anymore. Mortgage holders are weary and the rest of us simply can’t afford to buy houses. The Reserve Bank announced today that the cash rate has held at 3.85 per cent. After three long years of trying to survive in a cost-of-living crisis, Aussies are exhausted, fed up and finding it difficult to get fired up. The cost of living crisis kicked off in late 2021 – and, nearly four years later, it appears there’s no end in sight. The median rental price nationwide is $620, and the median price to buy a house is over $900,000. According to the financial comparison website Finder, the average home loan size is $659,000, with monthly repayments of $3,935. The rates holding is a brutal call. When news.com.au hit the streets earlier today to ask Aussies if the rate cut would be a relief, the answer was … duh. One woman stopped to chat and said, “of course”, rates dropping would make a difference and would provide much needed relief. Another homeowner explained that she’d found the increasing rates pressure from the past few years tough. She said she owned in Queensland but rented in Sydney and she found the rising rates over the last few years quite confronting. “It has not been great,” she admitted. A young dad pushing a pram said that a rate cut would be fantastic news because as a father with a young family, every little bit helps. “The last couple have been very helpful, particularly with a young family. It’s handy to have that additional cash,” he said. While a woman wearing a trench coat agreed that another rate cut would very much be a “good thing” and make a difference. One guy explained that he wasn’t waiting for rate cuts but only because he was luckily on a fixed mortgage. “I’m fine for another year,” he said. When asked if he was scared to come off his fixed mortgage and be at the mercy of the RBA – he had to concede he wasn’t thrilled at that prospect. “Yes, it does, but that is next year’s problem,” he reasoned. The only people that weren’t hanging out for a rate cut were those who don’t own homes and therefore aren’t impacted. A young woman summed up the vibe of the day as she explained homeownership felt out of reach and therefore rates just don’t feel relevant. “I don’t think I’m probably going to be able to afford a house anytime in my lifetime,” she said. “I’m not going to be in a position to buy properly ever.” She said the same was true for her group of friends, and if someone managed to get onto the property ladder, it would be a shock. “If someone I knew bought a house it’d be an astronomical world event,” she said. Financial expert Julian Finch said the cost of living crisis is such a “generational event” that there’s a growing sense of financial fatigue and holding rates isn’t going to help morale. “It is just a constant topic of conversation,” Mr Finch told news.com.au. “It is also coming from all sides, whether it is your electricity bill or your mortgage repayments. It is relentless.” Mr Finch argued that so many Aussies are already behind and are constantly looking for relief. “If you get behind it can feel impossible to recover because the hits just keep coming and coming. Incremental improvements can feel useless,” he argued. The financial expert noted a growing trend of people including his own clients experiencing increasing financial stress. “Financial stress is one of the worst kinds of stress you can feel. It can wake you up in the middle of the night and you can’t escape it,” he said. Mr Finch said he struggles to maintain a financially optimistic outlook at the moment because everything is so expensive. “If I speak from a personal point of view, it is hard,” he said. “Every month, you get a good whack of cash, and you can take a breath, and then a week later, all your outgoings have been distributed, and you wonder if you’ll have enough to get to the end of the month.”