ECONOMIC INDICATORS – AUSTRALIA

Australian house prices hit new peak for 2025 as rate cut drives buyer demand

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Original article by Cait Kelly
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 1-Apr-25

Data from CoreLogic Australia shows that house prices rose by 0.4 per cent nationwide in March; it was the second successive month of house price growth, and followed a decline of 0.5 per cent over the three months to December. Tim Lawless from CoreLogic – which is rebranding as Cotality – attributes the "pretty mild turnaround" to improved consumer sentiment in response to the Reserve Bank’s interest rate cut in February. Separate data from PropTrack shows that dwelling prices rose in every capital city in March.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, PROPTRACK PTY LTD, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence virtually unchanged at 84.2 in mid-March, with the biggest boost in Queensland

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Mar-25

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 84.2 in the week to 23 March. The index was unchanged in New South Wales and Victoria, but it increased the most in Queensland following the return to normal after the devastating Cyclone Alfred earlier in the month. Consumer Confidence is now 1.1 points above the same week a year ago (83.1), although it is now 2.4 points below the 2025 weekly average of 86.6. Now 21% of Australians (down 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 49% (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 31% (unchanged) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 32% (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’. Now 8% (unchanged) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 32% (also unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 26% (up 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 43% (unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

ANZ-Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations increased to 4.9% in late March – up from 4.6% for the month of February

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Mar-25

The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations were 4.9% for the week of 17-23 March 2025; this is up 0.3% points from the month of February, following four straight weeks of increases. However, a look at monthly Inflation Expectations for February shows the measure at 4.6% for the month – a decrease of 0.4% points from January, and the lowest monthly Inflation Expectations since September 2021. Looking back over the last year, weekly Inflation Expectations have moved in a band of 4.2% to 5.3% since the start of 2024, and averaged 4.9%. The data for the Inflation Expectations series is drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source, which has interviewed an average of around 5,300 Australians aged 14+ per month over the last decade.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

RBA interest rate bounce in February is short-lived as ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence down 2.1pts to 87.7

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Mar-25

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 2.1pts to 87.7 in the week to 2 March, after a significant increase the week before following the Reserve Bank’s decision to cut official interest rates. However, Consumer Confidence is now 6.1 points above the same week a year ago (81.0), but only 0.6 points above the 2025 weekly average of 87.1. A look at Consumer Confidence by State shows decreases in New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia, but small increases in Victoria and South Australia. Now 23% of Australians (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 47% (up 3ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’. Looking forward, 34% (down 3ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 29% (up 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Now 10% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 26% (unchanged) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 24% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items (the equal lowest figure for this indicator since before the Black Friday sales period), while 44% (also unchanged) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Australian women earn nearly $30,000 less than men a year, the governments latest pay gap report finds

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Original article by Kate Lyons, Eelemarni Close-Brown
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 4-Mar-25

Data from the Workplace Gender Equality Agency shows that the gender pay gap narrowed at 56 per cent of employers in the year to March 2024. However, the data indicates that the gender pay gap at 72.2 per cent of employers still favours male workers, while just 6.5 per cent have a pay gap that favours women; some 21.3% of employers have a neutral gender pay gap, whereby the difference in wages for male and female workers is no more than five per cent. Meanwhile, the gender pay gap is largest in male-dominated industries such as construction and financial services.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY

Finance sector has gender balance – except the pay gap

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Original article by Helen Trinca
The Australian – Page: 15 : 4-Mar-25

The Workplace Gender Equality Agency’s latest annual report shows that women now comprise 53 per cent of workers in Australia’s banking, finance and insurance sector. However, the report notes that the gender pay gap in this sector is 22.3 per cent, compared with the national pay gap of 12.1 per cent. The average gender pay gap for the nation’s four major banks ranges from 18.8 per cent to 22.4 per cent; in contrast the average pay gap at Morgan Stanley is 58.6 per cent, although its base salary gap is just 37.3 per cent. Meanwhile, women comprise just 36 per cent of the top remuneration quartile in the financial services industry, and predominantly work in roles that have lower pay.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. WORKPLACE GENDER EQUALITY AGENCY

ANZ-Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations fell to 4.2% in late February – well down from 5.0% for the month of January

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Feb-25

The weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan Inflation Expectations were 4.2% for the week of 17-23 February 2025; this is down 0.8% points from the month of January, and the lowest since August 2021. However, a look at monthly Inflation Expectations for January 2025 shows the measure at 5.0% for the month – an increase of 0.2% points from December, and just above the average for last year of 4.9%. Looking back over the last year, weekly Inflation Expectations have moved in a band of 4.2% to 5.3% since the start of 2024 and averaged 4.9%. The data for the Inflation Expectations series is drawn from the Roy Morgan Single Source, which has interviewed an average of around 5,300 Australians aged 14+ per month over the last decade and includes interviews with 6,086 Australians aged 14+ in January 2025.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence jumps 4.7pts to 89.8 after the Reserve Bank cuts interest rates for the first time since 2020

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 26-Feb-25

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose 4.7pts to 89.8 in the week to 23 February, after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates by 0.25% to 4.1%. Consumer Confidence is now 6.6 points above the same week a year ago (83.2), and 2.7 points above the 2025 weekly average of 87.1. A look at Consumer Confidence by State shows increases in all States, with the largest increase in Western Australia and increases of at least 3 points in the other States. Now 22% of Australians (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 44% (down 6ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ (the lowest figure for this indicator since January 2023). Looking forward, 37% (up 5ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year (the highest figure for this indicator since January 2022), while 27% (down 4ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’ (the lowest figure for this indicator since May 2022). Now 11% (up 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 26% (down 3ppts) expect ‘bad times’ (the lowest figure for this indicator since April 2022). Meanwhile, 24% (unchanged) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items (the equal lowest figure for this indicator since before the Black Friday sales period), while 44% (down 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence drops 1.6pts to 85.1 in the week before key Reserve Bank meeting on interest rates

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 19-Feb-25

ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence fell 1.6pts to 85.1 in the week to 16 February, due to rising concerns about personal finances and the Australian economy over the next year. Consumer Confidence is now 2.3 points above the same week a year ago (82.8), but 1.6 points below the 2025 weekly average of 86.7. A look at Consumer Confidence by State shows a mixed result, with decreases in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia, virtually unchanged in New South Wales, and increasing in Queensland. Now 20% of Australians (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 50% (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘worse off’ (the highest figure for this indicator so far this year). Looking forward, 32% (down 2ppts) of Australians expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year (the lowest figure for this indicator so far this year), while 31% (up 3ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. Now 10% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next 12 months, while 29% (up 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’. Meanwhile, 24% (down 2ppts) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items (the lowest figure for this indicator since before the Black Friday sales period), while 45% (up 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Long wait for living standards to recover

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Original article by Jack Quail, Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 19-Feb-25

The Reserve Bank of Australia now expects growth in real household disposable income of just 3.1 per cent in the year to June; it had previously forecast growth of 3.9 per cent for this metric, which is regarded as a proxy for living standards. The central bank estimates that real household disposable income per capita is about one per cent lower than prior to the pandemic. Meanwhile, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor says the federal government’s own forecasts show that the nation’s living standards will not return to the levels prior to the last election until 2030.

CORPORATES
RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA