Lending on the rise: RBA
August 31, 2009
Total credit provided to the private sector by financial intermediaries rose by a stable 0.2 per cent over July 2009, following an increase of 0.1 per cent over June, according to official RBA data. Over the year to July, total credit rose by 3.0 per cent. Housing... Read more »
Mild inflation buys time for RBA
August 31, 2009
A closely-watched indicator of inflation remained unchanged in August on a month-on-month basis, following a 0.9% rise in July. The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute Monthly Inflation Gauge, a private sector measurement, rose by 1.7% in August from a year earlier,... Read more »
Consumer confidence still rising
August 31, 2009
Consumer Confidence rose a further 1.1 points last week to 123.7, according to the weekly Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating, which showed a rating some 24.4 points higher than this time last year. A rating above the 100 point mark shows optimists outnumber... Read more »
New home sales move sideways
August 30, 2009
The number of new homes sold was almost stagnant in July, increasing by 0.1 per cent following a 0.5 per cent rise in June, according to the Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) latest survey of Australia’s largest builders. HIA Chief Economist, Dr... Read more »
First home buyer interest moderates
August 30, 2009
The First Home Owners Boost has been taken up by over 137,000 Australians since being introduced last year, figures from the Federal Government have shown, but the number of first home buyers has finally begun to decline. The data showed that the number using the... Read more »
Consumer credit demand weak, despite record mortgage enquiries
August 30, 2009
Consumer credit demand (credit card and personal loan enquires) fell by 20% in the April to June quarter in 2009 compared to the same period last year, according to Veda Advantage’s Consumer Credit Demand Index - which showed a surge in mortgage applications.... Read more »
Cash rate expected to stay at 49-year lows
August 28, 2009
Economists believe that Australia’s central bank will leave rates on hold for another month at their Tuesday meeting, but are now increasingly confident about the prospect of a rate rise before the end of the year. The Reserve Bank of Australia has kept rates... Read more »
First home buyers encouraged into market by stimulus measures
August 27, 2009
Almost half of the respondents in an Australian study have suggested that the First Home Owners Grant helped them take the jump into the property market, yet most still believe the Federal Government should do more to help first time buyers. Additionally, a greater... Read more »
Business begins to buy into recovery
August 26, 2009
New capital expenditure rose an unexpected 3.3 per cent in the June quarter, in another sign that the Australian economy is well on the way to recovery. The ABS data, released today, showed that - on a seasonally adjusted basis - investment in buildings and structures... Read more »
Construction spend data shows relative strength of business investment
August 26, 2009
Today’s release of ABS data on construction spending has again allayed fears that business investment would ‘fall off a cliff’ despite a noticeable decline in residential bulding. The value of construction work fell a mere 0.1 per cent in the... Read more »