ECONOMIC INDICATORS – AUSTRALIA

Sydney, Melbourne fast sellers

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 17-Jul-15

CoreLogic’s data for private treaty sales in April 2015 shows that houses in Sydney were sold an average of 26 days after being put on the market, compared with an average of 31 days in May 2014. Likewise, the average number of days required to sell a home via private treaty sale in Melbourne fell from 43 to just 32. CoreLogic also reports that some 17,282 residential properties are currently for sale in Sydney, while 26,987 are on the market in Melbourne.

CORPORATES
CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DOMAIN.COM.AU, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ

Housing starts top 200,000 for first time

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Original article by Michael Bleby
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 48 : 16-Jul-15

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has reported that there were a record 203,760 dwelling commencements in the year to March 2015. This compares with 198,849 in the year to December 2014. Housing starts in Victoria and Queensland rose by around 20 per cent during the March quarter, although growth in New South Wales was just 1.9 per cent. The value of construction activity across all sectors of the industry totalled $A23.7 billion during the quarter.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence Plunges Further

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 14-Jul-15

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia fell by 3.6 per cent to 107.0 in the week ended 12 July 2015, following a 4.6 per cent fall in the previous week. This more than reverses the positive reaction to the May rate cut and the Commonwealth Budget in just two weeks. Confidence is now at its lowest level in 12 months. The volatility in the Chinese stock market and continuing Greek debt negotiations have driven confidence lower. This was reflected in the sub-indices on the economic outlook, which both fell by around eight per cent. The sub-index on "economic conditions in next five years" reached its lowest level since the weekly series began in October 2008.

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

Auction clearances show softening trend

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Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 13-Jul-15

Preliminary data from APM PriceFinder shows that Sydney’s residential property market boasted an auction clearance rate of 80 per cent on the weekend of 11-12 July 2015. An usually high number of homes for the time of year went under the hammer, which might have influenced the lower clearance rate, according to Andrew Wilson of Domain. Melbourne’s preliminary clearance rate rose from 74.7 per cent to 79.2 per cent.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN PROPERTY MONITORS PTY LTD, DOMAIN.COM.AU, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, CORELOGIC AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, COBDEN AND HAYSON, BIGGIN AND SCOTT PTY LTD, PETER BLACKSHAW REAL ESTATE, WESTON CREEK PTY LTD

Job figures spur speculation the worst is over

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Original article by Jacob Greber
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 10-Jul-15

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that the economy added 120,700 jobs during the first six months of 2015, with an average of 20,000 new jobs created each month. The unemployment rate was six per cent in June, prompting the Reserve Bank to note in its latest monetary policy statement that unemployment has ceased rising. Paul Bloxham of HSBC says the jobs data will make further interest rate cuts less likely in the near-term.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Australian June real unemployment 9.3% – down for fourth consecutive month

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 2-Jul-15

A Roy Morgan Research survey on Australia’s labour market has found that the real unemployment rate was 9.3 per cent in June 2015. The number of people in the workforce now totals 12,755,000 (up 247,000 since May 2014), while the number of people who are underemployed has fallen by 59,000 in the last 12 months to 1,129,000 (8.9 per cent of the workforce). The official unemployment rate was 6.0 per cent in May 2015. Roy Morgan Research executive chairman Gary Morgan says the Federal Government must look at the abolition of Sunday and public holiday penalty rates for the tourism and retail industries, as these measures have a detrimental impact on small businesses, which are forced to close on Sundays and public holidays.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Weaker dollar – more holidays at home

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Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 2-Jul-15

Data shows that Australians spent a total of $A55.7bn on domestic overnight trips in the year to March 2015, which is six per cent higher than previously. Meanwhile, there was three per cent growth in the number of Australians who opted for a holiday within Australia in the March 2015 quarter. The National Visitor Survey, which was undertaken by Tourism Research Australia, also found that the number of Australians taking overseas holidays rose by three per cent in the year to March.

CORPORATES
TOURISM RESEARCH AUSTRALIA, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN

Exploration ‘zombies’ on rise as mining cash dries up

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Original article by Tess Ingram
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 21 : 1-Jul-15

Data from accounting firm BDO shows that smaller Australian-listed exploration companies spent an average of $A539,000 on exploration during the March 2015 quarter. However, about 20 per cent of the 793 junior explorers invested less than $A10,000 on exploration during the period, while 12 per cent did not undertake any exploration programs. Only one explorer listed at the lower end of the market during the quarter.

CORPORATES
BDO AUSTRALIA LIMITED, CSIRO, NORTHERN STAR RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX NST, LA MANCHA RESOURCES INCORPORATED, SARACEN MINERAL HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SAR, EXCELSIOR GOLD LIMITED – ASX EXG, RAMELIUS RESOURCES LIMITED – ASX RMS

Housing data shows peak is over

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Original article by Robert Harley
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 38 : 1-Jul-15

Data from Domain Group shows that Sydney’s residential auction clearance rate eased from 83.3 per cent in May 2015 to 82.9 per cent in June. There was also a downturn in the median auction price. Meanwhile, the auction clearance rate in Melbourne rose from 78 per cent to 79.2 per cent in June, although the median dwelling price was 4.9 per cent lower than in May.

CORPORATES
DOMAIN.COM.AU, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, HOUSING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION LIMITED, RESERVE BANK OF AUSTRALIA, HSBC AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD

ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence up 2% to 116.3 – highest in 18 months

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Jun-15

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rating for Australia rose by two per cent to 116.3 in the week ended 28 June 2015, reaching its highest level in 18 months. This builds on the positive reaction by consumers from the Federal Budget, and puts confidence firmly on an upward trajectory. The sub-index for economic conditions in the next year rose by 5.7 per cent, while the sub-index for a "good time to buy a household item" rose by 2.1 per cent, to its highest level in two years.

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