Confidence among mortgaged households in Australia has crashed to its lowest level in records stretching back to 1994, according to survey data.
The Westpac survey showed its consumer sentiment index sinking in November to reach a four-year low. According to Matthew Hassan, Westpac’s head of economic forecasting, household sentiment was previously at this low point in 2022.
The ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence rating dropped 3.1 points to 63.1 points, according to ANZ data. ANZ economist Sophia Angala stated that the RBA’s rate hike to 4.85%—the highest cash rate since 2008—weighed heavily on the index.
For the first time since November 2022, house price expectations dipped 13.4% to 99.6, sliding under the 100 neutral mark. Confidence fell across all housing cohorts, with mortgage holders recording their gloomiest outlook in records stretching back to 1994.
Investors are now anticipating the possibility of interest rate reductions beginning in the middle of next year. ANZ data showed the implied probability of a Reserve Bank rate cut was more than 50% by August next year.
Australians' confidence in the economy has collapsed to a near record low, a shock new report has revealed after interest rates were lifted to the highest point since the GFC.https://t.co/NaY5x7yGdx
Investors rethought their forecasts following a retreat in the global oil price. Brent crude plunged by 20% to below US$94 a barrel after testing a post-Iran war high of nearly US$118 at the end of October.
Albanese said that the treasurer is producing economic reform and budget surpluses.
Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson claimed that federal workplace policies were directly responsible for recent job layoffs at companies like Qantas, NAB, and Canva. Wilson told 2GB’s Drive program that the government is wagged by its union tail, making it impossible for businesses to employ Australians.
ANZ economist Sophia Angala stated that the Reserve Bank raising interest rates to 4.85% likely weighed on ANZ-Roy Morgan Australian Consumer Confidence.
ANZ data shows financial markets have priced in a greater than 50% probability of an RBA rate cut by August next year.
According to Westpac’s Matthew Hassan, such low figures have only been observed during the most severe economic periods, including the early 1980s and 1990s recessions, the peak of the GFC, and the beginning of the Covid pandemic.
Australia Consumer Sentiment Sinks to 4-Year Low Consumer Confidence MoM · Australia · via Trading Economics
“Prior to that, readings this weak had only ever been seen in the economy's darkest moments: at the onset of the Covid pandemic; the height of the GFC; and during the recessions in the early 1990s and early 1980s,” Westpac's head of economic forecasting Matthew Hassan said.
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