The Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision to hike the official cash rate by 0.25% last week has failed to dampen buyer enthusiasm in the housing market. According to Cotality, the nation’s preliminary auction clearance rate rose to 73.7%, up from 69.7% last weekend. It was also significantly higher than the 64.2% preliminary clearance rate
All of a sudden, the planets have aligned. Something both sides of Australian politics have been able to shunt off into the ‘politically too hard’ basket for much of a generation is now eminently doable. All that is required is data, some integrity in interpreting that data, and the political cojones to stand and deliver.
Despite the strong prospects of an interest rate hike, the nation’s final auction clearance rate bounced last weekend. Cotality recorded a final clearance rate of 66.4% last weekend, up from 57.1% in mid-December and 59.4% at the same time last year. Melbourne’s final clearance rate was 63.7% last week, up from 58.4% and 58.6% at
International Reading: Survey: 43% of Americans Don’t Have Savings to Pay for a $1,000 Emergency – US News Employers announce most job cuts since 2009 as economy wobbles – USA Today Warren to call for reversal of Trump’s UAE chip sales after ‘Spy Sheikh’ revelations – CNBC Trump is giving the U.S. economy a $65
Yes, this is my last post at MacroBusiness…see more below but first the final roundup of today’s markets: Its been a tough day on local markets with the ASX200 slumping while the nexus of the AI bubble on Wall Street, the Trump regime’s warmongering in Iran, a snap election in Japan and the latest US
Charts from TME. Semiconductors are threatening to follow software down as the NDX washout gathers momentum. To call the semis trade crowded doesn’t quite say it. Software doom is at hand. Overnight, Goldman declared the sector the new “Newspapers”. “Historical episodes of major disruption risk suggest that share price stabilization will require stability in the
The Victorian government has introduced a suite of tax increases and new levies that significantly raise holding costs for investors—primarily through lower land‑tax thresholds, expanded vacant‑residential‑land taxes, and new short‑stay levies. These changes mean more investors now pay land tax, and those who already paid are paying more. Therefore, holding costs for investment properties have
As we enter the Chinese Year of the Horse, which signifies dynamism, energy, and freedom, ANZ believes that Chinese growth is entering a new era. While such an assumption is okay in theory, the notion that Chinese growth is about to rise is pretty laughable to me. Total Factor Productivity (TFP) is notoriously difficult to
The State of Queensland is running large operating deficits, averaging 3.2% of operating revenue between FY25–FY27. The operating deficit is expected to peak at nearly 6% in FY26. Deficits after capital spending are extremely large: 17–20% of revenue through FY27. A return to operating surplus is not expected until FY28. S&P Global Ratings has affirmed Queensland’s AA+
Following the resumption of rate rises from the RBA earlier this week, many Australians have been left wondering how things went so badly wrong that the RBA has needed to raise rates only a year after it started cutting them, despite the prior rate rise cycle delivering the largest relative rise in mortgage rates in