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Economists say prices are on track to fall at least 10% after the Reserve Bank lifted rates for the fourth time this year on Tuesday, pushing more buyers out of the market.

Brisbane’s home prices dropped 1.5% in September, with every suburb in the city recording lower prices compared with June.

The median Brisbane home was worth $1.05m, down by $59,000 since May. The Queensland capital had seen prices surge 18% over the preceding 12 months.

Sydney median values dropped 1.4% in the month and were down 8.6% from their record high in March, the equivalent of a $112,000 drop. Just four Sydney suburbs held steady in recent months.

Melbourne prices were down 7.2%, or $63,000, from November 2025. While a handful of suburbs have seen prices continue to rise, Joe Trucchio, a buyer’s agent at Property Home Base, said the downturn had swept the city.

“We’re fully into the spring buying carnival, and we haven’t seen it pick up the way that it had in previous years,” Trucchio said.

“It just takes some time and it takes some good news and right now we’ve had a sequence of bad news.”

Interest rates have become “the biggest conversation” among hesitant buyers, Trucchio said. Comparison website Canstar has estimated this year’s four hikes have cut $47,400 from the borrowing capacity of someone earning an average annual full-time wage of $108,650.

Housing prices would have to fall roughly 10% to offset a 1 percentage point increase in interest rates and no suburbs have reached that threshold.

However, Trucchio said dwellings on the cheaper end of the market had garnered more interest as first home buyers regained confidence.

The Albanese government on Thursday reported over 102,000 people had been supported with first home loans under the 5% deposit scheme in the year since it was expanded.

The scheme has supported over 8,400 new first home buyers a month since June on average, relatively stable compared to the 8,600 a month average from October to May.

The RBA governor, Michele Bullock, said on Tuesday the central bank considered leaving rates on hold amid an unexpectedly weak housing market but ultimately decided to lift.

She said falling prices would probably worsen housing supply by making new construction unprofitable.

Economists expect Australia’s shortage of housing will force home prices back up in future, though the receding chance of interest rates cuts has made a longer downturn more likely.

AMP chief economist, Shane Oliver, said the Cotality data supported forecasts of prices falling at least 10% nationally.

“Rate hikes, tax hikes and poor confidence are the big drags but rising distressed listings with rate hikes and rising unemployment do risk a deeper fall of around 15%,’” Oliver said. %!s()

Aldi’s Colway Real Mayonnaise placed equal first with a score of 80%. A jar costs $2.79, or 61c per 100g – the lowest price per unit of the product spread. Judges relished its “mild” and “pleasant” aroma and “traditional mayonnaise appearance”, while noting its “creamy, smooth texture with balanced citrus acidity, subtle sweetness, mustard and whole-egg flavour”.

Woolworths Whole Egg Mayonnaise also received a score of 80% for its “good shape retention” and “balanced flavour with pleasant vinegar acidity, sweetness, oil and mustard”. It costs slightly more than its equal-first counterpart, with a price tag of $2.80 per bottle or 64c per 100g.

The silver medal went to Aldi’s Colway Authentic Mayonnaise, which scored 77% and costs 78c per 100g. Judges remarked on its “homogeneous texture with a balanced flavour of mustard, vinegar and fat” – although, judge and food consultant Brigid Treloar told Guardian Australia, she noted its slightly orange appearance, like it has “been under the sunlamps”.

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Treloar, one of three judges including chef Serkan Tamcelik and food technologist Petra Sugiarto, said the products were assessed for their appearance (“Does it dollop?”), smell (“I don’t think mayo should have a strong aroma”), and whether its flavour was creamy, smooth and balanced.

She also considered whether the mayonnaises were properly emulsified. “In some of them, it was like … here’s a little bit of salt, here’s a little bit of sugar, here’s a little bit of oil, but it didn’t come together.”

One mayonnaise simply didn’t cut the mustard. According to Choice the worst-ranked product was Coles 97% Fat Free Mayonnaise at a score of 47%, with judges giving it the wooden spoon for its “translucent, pale appearance” and “thick, gummy, glue-like consistency”.

“It was so sweet,” Treloar said. The mayonnaise has a sugar content of 18.9g per 100g, at least double the sugar content of almost all the other tested products. Praise 99% Fat Free Traditional Mayo had the highest sugar content overall, with 20.9g per 100g, but still scored 63%.

The Choice taste test revealed that 27 of the 29 mayonnaises contained sugar, which is not traditionally found in French-style mayonnaise.

Speaking generally, Treloar sad due to cost, some mayonnaise manufacturers might use thickening or emulsifying agents to achieve a desired texture and mouthfeel. French mayonnaise typically comprises of egg yolks and a neutral-tasting oil, as well as lemon or vinegar, and dijon mustard.

Kewpie – which Treloar acknowledged has a “diehard” fanbase – was given a middle-of-the-pack score of 67%. Treloar said compared to the other products, Kewpie was more “savoury”, with a more prominent soya bean oil flavour. Comprising 9.5% egg yolk, Kewpie had the highest egg content of the tested mayonnaises.

Some products, meanwhile, didn’t contain egg at all and are therefore suitable for vegans. The best vegan mayonnaise was Hellmann’s Plant Based Mayo, which attracted a score of 77% and an overall equal-third ranking. Judges said it had a “thick and glossy appearance”, although it was “slightly gummy” on the palate.

Treloar said the taste test was one of the “most gruelling” she has done. “Certainly doing 29 mayonnaises, I was pacing myself, because it can make you feel quite sick.” %!s()

Guardian Australia revealed last month that private colleges were offering discounts to rush students into the graduate diploma of management (learning) ahead of its deregistration on 5 October, which the government says was being used by some non-genuine students to remain in the country. The assistant minister for international education, Julian Hill, said at the time the system had been “misused”.

The regulator says since the ban was announced on 4 September, more than 1,300 new enrolments had been issued and more than 1,500 students have had their future enrolments brought forward.

Some immigration education agents have offered promotions for the month of September, including in WhatsApp messages and texts, encouraging students to join the course or those who have a future enrolment to study now. Several ads promote discounted course fees or a free certificate of enrolment to join immediately.

The Department of Home Affairs has issued letters of concern to several providers asking them to explain their behaviour and practices.

Hill said he was prepared to use powers not previously exercised on colleges that have breached the rules, preventing them from being able to recruit new students.

“The message to providers, agents and students is simple: do not try to game this measure,” Hill told Guardian Australia.

“A paper enrolment, a rushed orientation or token activity is not a licence to evade the intent of the action and curious patterns are now being actively examined.

“Providers should expect any attempt to circumvent the intent of these measures to attract close regulatory scrutiny, looking at the substance of what occurred, not simply the paperwork.”

The course is taught by close to 450 institutions, has more than 15,000 current students and has more than 40,000 future students registered. More than 1,500 of those students have brought their enrolment forward. Any student who begins the course before 5 October will be allowed to complete it “where no integrity breaches are identified”.

One private college has sent immigration agents a promotion offering “attractive” commissions with same-day offer letters and confirmation of enrolment for students, with two “special intakes” on 21 September and 2 October – just three days before the course is cancelled.

As part of the rule changes, students who have “packaged” a lower-level vocational course with the graduate diploma will need to enrol on to a higher-level course to meet their visa requirements. By fast-tracking the start date of the graduate diploma, that could mean studying two courses at the same time.

Hill said regulators were monitoring students whose study arrangements appeared not to be genuine, such as those studying two full-time courses at once.

He warned students in “non-genuine” arrangements could put their student visa or any future visas at risk.

“Students should be very wary of anyone pressuring them to start another course immediately, particularly while they are still completing their existing studies,” Hill said.

“Genuine students deserve clear advice and quality education – not arrangements created for someone else’s commercial benefit.” %!s()

This is a trait that Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls handles smartly, which in a way is surprising, because it usually makes him quite annoying. In most appearances, Deadpool references everything — nothing is safe. Marvel editorial, art of all mediums new and old, assorted real-life celebrity drama, specific stories from comics’ past (not just Marvel, either), and more I can’t think of right now; all of it ripe fruit for Wade to riff on in one of the many jokes-per-minute spouting from his scarred mouth. This became true of the vast majority of his comic runs, once the meta awareness, fourth-wall-breaking became a central part of his character identity, and defined non-comic appearances like High Moon’s 2013 Deadpool game and Ryan Reynolds' (admittedly, kinda perfect) portrayal from the 2016 film onwards. No, X-Men Origins: Wolverine does not count.

The problem is that this is an exceedingly difficult superpower to write well. Deadpool is designed to be annoying, yes, but specifically to the characters in the story. Creator Rob Liefeld intended for him to be "Spider-Man, except with guns and swords, and a jackass." The X-Men and the Avengers are sick of his shit, as are his villains, and that’s the core of his comedic approach: wearing people down with his relentless quips, sophomoric insults and incomprehensible (to them) references to universes beyond.

The problem arises when Deadpool starts annoying the audience, and in a way that isn’t intentional; when Wade’s voice grinds on me as much as it does Wolverine, it stops being funny and just makes me want to stop listening. The issue peaked with that Deadpool game, in which he genuinely cannot shut up, and very quickly grates on the ears with instantly dated references and smarter-than-thou jokes on game and narrative design (as if to excuse the game’s own flaws in both). It is, and I truly hate to say this, a shining example of what’s come to be known and despised as 'Reddit humour'. Hearing Nolan North’s Wade in that game makes me miss his performance in Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, a take on the character where he’s still pretty damn irksome, but is at least earnest, focusing his comedy in on Marvel and Capcom history. And, occasionally, the competitive fighting game community itself, yelling "WHERE YO CURLY MUSTACHE AT?" at a nonplussed Magneto.

With all of these past versions in mind, Marvel Tōkon’s interpretation of Deadpool carefully maintains the threshold of annoyance, limiting Wade a little and focusing on reverence over ridicule (while also bringing back Nolan North, which is vital). Rather than being aware of all media ever, Deadpool specifically bears an encyclopedic knowledge of fighting games and the culture around them. With an in-universe explanation that he somehow got his hands on a fighting game strategy guide (his reading of which happens to be his disaffected, aloof blocking animation), his moveset, voice lines, win screens, and character select portrait all borrow elements from the genre, spanning the most well-known to the most niche. I’ll try to limit myself in describing them and just focus on some personal highlights, but for a quick overview, know that he pulls from Street Fighter, Tekken, Mortal Kombat, Marvel vs Capcom itself, Guilty Gear, Blazblue, Dragonball Fighterz, and even deep cuts like JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle and Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game (if you can believe such a thing existed).

So, just for a few specific examples I love, Deadpool borrows: Cell’s intro (pictured up top), Kazuya Mishima’s Electric Wind God Fist, May’s Totsugeki (dolphin included), E. Honda’s butt slam, Doctor Doom’s Foot Dive, Johnny Cage’s nut punch, Captain Sawada’s Hara-Kiri (from SF:TM:TG!), and, somehow, Guilty Gear’s Roman Cancel mechanic, ported over entirely just for him. Several of these are only available while Deadpool is recovering from damage, self-inflicted or otherwise, tying these Fourth Wall Attacks (their actual name) to his healing factor and his casual willingness to suffer grievous bodily harm. Optimal Deadpool play requires getting hurt on purpose to access these moves, which is so antithetical to standard fighting game design that it loops around to fit Deadpool perfectly.

His Deadpool Corps super starts out with Sol Badguy's Volcanic Viper uppercut (yelled out as "AQUATIC VIPER!", what with the dolphin he’s swinging around), and his Tokon Assemble closes out with a simulated opponent ragequit — whether they do in real life is another question — followed by Dio Brando’s timestop. Did I mention Deadpool is voiced by Dio’s VA, Takehito Koyasu, in Japanese? Oh, and, finally, the variations of his reference-laden Fever Dream super include, to name a few, Wade screaming "LET’S GO, WADE!" in his own EVO Moment 37, a recreation of Justin Wong’s infamous 'friend zone' photo (poor guy), and Kazuya dropping his father off a cliff in Tekken.

Okay, that was maybe more than a few. There’s just so much packed into this character, so many more examples that James would understandably cut for length if I tried to include, and it's a joy for a girl so in love with fighting games to pick through. It's also what makes Tōkon’s interpretation of Deadpool work for me, where so many others have only irritated. At no point is his fourth-wall-breaking intended to punch down, or even sideways; there's no attempt to crudely ridicule any single person, game, movie or other creative work, as if he and his writers are so above it all. Well, maybe Wong, but I think he’s handling it well. Point being, it's much more a collection of tongue-in-cheek yet ultimately affectionate FGC in-jokes than an endless reel of smug, poorly ageing pop culture references.

The depth and breadth of fighting game knowledge on show is proof of a fundamental, earnest love for the them, past and present, and Deadpool himself is a vessel for Arc System Works to show their appreciation for the genre they’ve worked in for decades - while simultaneously honouring the character's history by tying these references into a unique powerset on the mechanical level. It’s a pretty massive swing, and yet ArcSys have nailed it, not least because they've done something I previously thought impossible: warming my cold heart to the merc with a mouth. %!s()