Friday night saw a selloff dominate on risk markets as the end of week and month double twitching and fund flows amid the steepening yield curve on US Treasuries, now at a three year high. Wall Street pulled back the sharpest with European shares still in hesitation mode. The USD was broadly unchanged but finishes
Australians have been trapped in a long, drawn-out per capita recession. As the following chart illustrates, Australia’s per capita GDP has recorded nine declines in the past 11 quarters. While the cumulative 1.7% decline in real per capita GDP is rather shallow compared to the early-1980s and 1990s recessions, it is the longest-running slump in
Yet another major bank is on board. Credit Agricole. After years of resistance, the RBA has lowered its productivity growth assumption. This has not led to higher inflation forecasts or the risk of tighter monetary policy. The RBA is assuming lower productivity growth will not only weaken supply but also demand via lower income growth.
According to Cotality (formerly CoreLogic), Australian rental affordability was at a record low at the end of 2024, with the median household required to spend 33% of their income to rent the median home. Cotality’s latest Quarterly Rental Review, released in July, showed that rents nationally have surged by 43% over the past five years:
By Lucinda Jerogin, Associate Economist at CBA Australian headline inflation surprised to the upside, sharply rising by 2.8%/yr in July. However, electricity and travel prices contributed to the majority of the forecast miss and will likely unwind in coming months. The Minutes of the August Monetary Policy Board meeting highlighted a shift in focus for
Australia’s auction market has gathered strength over recent months. Last week’s national final auction clearance rate of 70.0% was the strongest result since the week ending 11th February 2024 (70.3%). This weekend’s preliminary auction clearance results showed further strength, with Cotality reporting a national preliminary clearance rate of 76.3%, a full percentage point higher than
Virtually every opinion poll held over the past decade shows that Australians do not support high immigration nor the rapid growth in population, which is straining our major cities. In the 60 years following World War II, Australia’s net overseas migration (NOM) averaged 90,000 per annum. In only two years over that 60-year period, NOM
The latest rate cut from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has stimulated the housing market, with Cotality reporting the strongest national final auction clearance rate since February 2024. Across the combined capital cities, 70.0% of homes taken to auction sold. This was the highest clearance rate since the week ending 11th February 2024 (70.3%).
International Reading: Billionaires pay a lower tax rate than the rest of America’s taxpayers, new study finds – CBS News Trump Seems Pretty Socialist These Days – Bloomberg Trump’s Appointees Could Rule the Fed for Decades – NY Times It turns out Gen Z is not ‘thriving’ the way they thought they would be: ‘American
Asian share markets are finishing the trading week in a mixed mood with US and European stock futures not moving much as they anticipate a long weekend for the former and the end of week/month double witching session. The USD is steady against most of the majors but losing ground against the commodity currencies with