A lot has changed since the 1950s but the Reserve Bank has this week turned back the clock, cutting official rates by 25 basis points to the record low last seen more than 60 years ago.

Christian Zeidler of One Agency Wollongong said he had little doubt the Illawarra property market would be affected by the rate cut.

"There are just floods of buyers, torrents of buyers coming into the Illawarra, particularly from Sydney and this is only going to increase it," he said.

"It's only going to fuel the fire."

While some Sydney buyers were parting with their money to invest, Mr Zeidler said in his experience just as many were looking to relocate to the Illawarra, driven south by wildly high Sydney house prices.

Illawarra Credit Union chief executive Bob Kotic urged anyone taking on the Illawarra's hot market to maintain a cool head.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has now introduced a 2 per cent buffer on interest rates to ensure buyers don't get in over their heads.

"I think there's never been a better time to do some serious planning," Mr Kotic said.

"You have to ask whether you can afford it, then do some scenario planning - what if over the next few years interest rates go up by 2 per cent? Will I be able to afford it and what effect will that have over our lifestyle?"

While existing home owners would undoubtedly welcome any relief, Mr Kotic said self-funded retirees might not be feeling as pleased.

"I am quite concerned that with the low rate environment and it continuing for an extended period I would say a lot of pensioners that rely on their savings as a supplement in particular would be finding it very, very difficult in this environment," he said.

"We often forget about the ageing population now and how many people are actually dependent on savings for quality of life and that's taken an extraordinary hammering over the last couple of years."

Mr Kotic said the jury was still out about whether the Reserve Bank would cut rates further later in the year.

The Illawarra Credit Union is planning to pass on the full 25 basis points cut to mortgage holders; the IMB is reviewing its rates.

AUSTRALIA  IN THE 1950s

At the end of the 1950s, the median house price was around $7000–$8000.

The average annual earnings were around $2000 per year.

The FJ Holden was introduced in 1953.

In 1956 Bill Haley’s Rock around the Clock and Elvis Presley’s Heartbreak Hotel were released.

A loaf of bread cost the equivalent of 15¢.