The Reserve Bank's new governor was able to pay off one of her Sydney homes in just nine years thanks to a special mortgage benefit once offered to staff.
Michele Bullock, who was announced in July as successor to controversial RBA boss Philip Lowe, owns her family home in Five Dock, in the far inner west of Sydney.
She and her husband paid off the mortgage on the house in 2000 after buying it for $285,000 in April 1991, property records show: The Daily Telegraph reported.
Situated in a prime location on a 428m² block with a swimming pool, that house now has an estimated value of more than $2.8 million.
When the couple bought the house, the standard variable cash interest rate was 14 per cent, but thanks to a mortgage deal given to RBA employees, Mrs Bullock only had to pay off her loan at half the interest.
New Reserve Bank Governor Michele Bullock was able to pay off one of her Sydney homes in just nine years thanks to a special mortgage benefit once offered to RBA staff
The RBA had previously allowed employees to borrow money for home loans at half the Commonwealth Bank's standard variable rate.
The scheme ended in 2001, but the Reserve Bank said a quarter of staff were still receiving the benefit in 2003.
It is understood fewer than a dozen RBA employees are now receiving the perk.
Former RBA boss Lowe received a half-price loan when he bought his five-bedroom Randwick home with his wife for $1,075,000 in 1997. Sky News reported.
It is clear that he no longer has a mortgage on the property.
Mrs. Bullock also owns two investment properties with her husband; one in Drummoyne and the other in Five Dock.
The two-bedroom Drummoyne apartment was bought in March 2012 for $670,000 and could now be worth as much as $1.1 million.
Pictured is one of Mrs Bullock's investment properties, on the border of Five Dock and Russell Lea, which was sold in a double sale in November 2007
The second investment property, on the border of Five Dock and Russell Lea, was sold in a double sale in November 2007.
Each apartment sold for $522,000, and both are still owned by the Bullock family. It is unclear whether Ms. Bullock owns both apartments or whether a family member owns them.
The current cash rate is at a twelve-year high of 4.35 percent, after the RBA last month raised rates for the thirteenth time in eighteen months.
Ms Bullock hinted on Tuesday that more pain could follow.
“Whether further monetary policy tightening is necessary to ensure that inflation returns to target within a reasonable timeframe will depend on the data and the evolving risk assessment,” she said.
“The administration remains steadfast in its determination to return inflation to target levels and will do what is necessary to achieve that outcome.”