A full year now since the last hike. Twelve months at 4.35%, easily the longest stretch of stability in this entire cycle.
I think the market has genuinely absorbed this as the baseline rather than a temporary peak. Buyer behaviour a year ago still had a wait-and-see quality to it, people hoping for a cut before committing. That hesitation has mostly disappeared. People are transacting at these rates as though they're permanent, which functionally, for planning purposes, they might as well be until proven otherwise.
Whenever the first cut does land, and the commentary keeps suggesting it's getting closer, I expect a burst of pent-up demand from buyers who've been waiting exactly this long. Worth thinking now about how that changes competition at the auctions I'll be watching next year.