ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose by 1.8 points to 82.0 this week, but the index has now spent a record 68 straight weeks below the mark of 85.
Consumer Confidence is now 4.7 points above the same week last year (77.3) and just 0.4 points below the 2024 weekly average of 82.4.
“ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian consumer confidence rose 1.8pts last week, but the series remains at very low levels,” said Madeline Dunk (pictured above) ANZ economist. “The lift was driven by a 3.9pt rise in confidence among renters.”
The boost could be linked to measures announced in the budget, such as the 10% rise in Commonwealth Rent Assistance.
“Across the other housing cohorts, there was a small lift in confidence among households paying off their homes, while confidence declined for those who own their homes outright,” Dunk said.
The future financial conditions subindex rose above its neutral level of 100 for the first time in seven weeks. Meanwhile, inflation expectations remained stable at their 2024 low of 4.8%.
Consumer Confidence saw mixed results across the states, with increases in New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia, and South Australia, but a slight decline in Victoria.
A fifth of Australians, 20% (unchanged), said their families were “better off” financially than this time last year, compared to 50% (unchanged) who said their families were “worse off”.
Views on personal finances over the next year were little changed and evenly split this week, with 33% (up 1ppt) expecting their family to be “better off” financially this time next year, while another 33% (unchanged) expect their family to be “worse off”.
Just more than one in 10 Australians, 11% (up 2ppts), were expecting “good times” for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, compared to a third, 33% (unchanged), who expected “bad times”.
Net sentiment regarding the Australian economy in the longer term also improved slightly this week, with 12% (up 1ppt) of Australians expecting “good times” for the economy over the next five years, compared to more than a fifth, 22% (unchanged), expecting “bad times”.
An improvement in net buying intentions drove this week’s increase in consumer confidence. More than a fifth, 22% (up 3ppts), of Australians say now is a “good time to buy” major household items, while 50% (down 2ppts) say now is a “bad time to buy.”
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