Consumer confidence declined
Consumer confidence decreased by 2.1pts. Among the mainland states, confidence fell in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and SA, while it rose slightly in WA.
'Weekly inflation expectations’ rose 0.5ppt to 5.6%, but its four-week moving average was unchanged at 5.5%.
‘Current financial conditions’ rose 1.1pts but remained below 70 for a sixth consecutive week. ‘Future financial conditions’ lost 5.5pts.
‘Current economic conditions’ fell 1.2pts, while ‘future economic conditions’ were practically unchanged with a 0.1pt decline.
'Time to buy a major household item’ dropped 4.5pts after a 2.9pt rise the week before.
"Consumer confidence fell to its seventh weakest result since the COVID outbreak in March 2020, despite the RBA’s no-hike decision in April, rising housing prices and the low unemployment rate of 3.5%," ANZ Senior Economist Adelaide Timbrell said.
"Though the confidence gap between homeowners with mortgages (the least confident cohort) and other housing cohorts was slightly less than average for the year. Confidence in the near-term future declined the most, with a 5.5pt drop in ‘future financial conditions’ and a 1.2pt drop in expectations of economic conditions over the next year.
"The subindex for whether it is a good ‘time to buy a major household item’ dropped to its lowest since April 2020. All subindices of confidence were lower than average for 2023."