Consumer confidence: back below 80
• Consumer confidence fell 2.3pts last week to 79.0pts. The four-week moving average rose 0.5pts to 80.3pts.
• ‘Weekly inflation expectations’ fell 0.3ppt to 4.9%, while its four-week moving average edged up to 5.0%.
• ‘Current financial conditions’ (over last year) dropped 4.7pts, while ‘future financial conditions’ (next 12 months) rose 1.2pts.
• ‘Short-term economic confidence’ (next 12 months) increased 0.6pts and ‘medium-term economic confidence’ (next five years) rose 0.3pts.
• The ‘time to buy a major household item’ subindex fell 9.0pts
ANZ Economist, Madeline Dunk said: “ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence dropped to its second lowest level for the year. The decline was driven by a 9.0pt fall in the ‘time to buy a major household item’ subindex, following the conclusion of end-of-financial year sales. This was the largest weekly fall in the subindex since February 2023.There was also a 4.7pt drop in ‘current financial conditions’.
Across the housing cohorts, confidence declined most for those paying off a mortgage, perhaps due to talk about the possibility of an RBA rate hike in August. Confidence also fell for households that own their homes outright, while it was broadly stable for renters.”