This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CONSUMER confidence is at its lowest rate since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the “current financial conditions” category falling to its lowest level on record since 2001.
According to the ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence Rating, consumer confidence saw a 1.8 pt decline to its lowest rate since April 2020.
Victoria was the only mainland state to record an increase in consumer confidence, with NSW, Queensland, SA and WA all recording declines.
“Consumer confidence declined to its weakest since April 2020 and stayed below 80 for an 11th consecutive week. ‘Economic conditions’ rose, perhaps in part due to the announcement of the surplus in the federal budget on 9 May,” said Adelaide Timbrell, senior economist at ANZ.
The four-week average currently sits at 77.9, up on last week’s 75.9 (8–14 May) and way down on the monthly average since 1990.
“Current financial conditions” fell to 5.4pts to its lowest on record since 2001, while “future financial conditions” fell 4.6pts.
In its third consecutive weekly decline, “time to buy a major household item” also fell 2.2pts.
“Confidence fell for both present and future financial conditions and the subindex for whether it is a ‘good time to buy a major household item’. Notably, ‘current financial conditions’ fell to its lowest value on record since 2001,” added Timbrell.
Weekly inflation expectations were stable at 5.3%, though its four-week moving average was down 0.1ppt to 5.2%.
“Among the housing cohorts, confidence fell for those renting (-4.1) and those paying off their homes (-2.2), while it rose for those who own their homes outright (+2.0),” said Timbrell.
