The nation’s auction market is ending 2025 with a whimper. The monthly average final auction clearance rate across the combined capital cities declined to 64% in November, down from the recent peak of 70% in September. Sydney and Melbourne have driven this decline in auction clearances. Sydney’s final auction clearance rate fell to 63% in
From the Market Ear: Got commodities? “Trump runs it hot, oil bounces post Russia-Ukraine fix, China keeps yuan cheap, soon all the commodity charts will look like gold…” (BofA) Energy XLE has been stuck inside the same range since March 2022. Things could get very squeezy should we take out current range highs. The 30
Former Treasurer Peter Costello has told an e61 Institute event in Sydney that the federal government should consider reintroducing the baby bonus. Costello’s 2002 budget introduced it, giving parents $3,000, but it was wound back about a decade ago. Australia’s fertility rate is now at a near-record low of 1.48 births per woman, with the
By Trent Saunders, Senior Economist at CBA The Q3 25 GDP figures pointed to an economy on a much more solid footing when compared to the last few years. GDP improved to be 2.1% higher over the year, up from a low of 0.8%/yr in Q3 24. The October Monthly Household Spending Indicator (MHSI) rose
IEEFA wants Albo to waste another $1bn on green iron. As Australia pours $1 billion into its Green Iron Investment Fund, it can learn important lessons from the US and EU, where several low-emissions steel projects backed by capital grants were subsequently cancelled or delayed. Projects with a “gas first, green hydrogen later” approach struggled,
China printed a bit of inflation in October, but it was pretty obviously seasonal. There is bugger all momentum in prices. The PPI was worse, though it also fell over the line in the month. Anti-involution has dented deflation but it is temporary. Bloomberg has some great charts on the great deflation. Rise of
It is time to shutter the ABC. Flag burning should be criminalised, immigration should be capped based on housing supply, and the ABC and SBS should be sold and replaced by a taxpayer-funded broadcaster only for regional and outback Australia, according to resolutions to be debated at the Liberal National Party’s state council this weekend.
Last week, I reported an AFR analysis of 16 financial reports from federal agencies, which revealed that 14 had unbudgeted increases in staff expenses totaling $841 million. Budget watcher Chris Richardson warned that the wage blowout could threaten the federal budget’s March forecast of a $42 billion deficit for this financial year, as could the billions
With the election of Zohran Mamdani to the office of Mayor of New York, an event thought practically impossible just a few decades ago has come to pass: the most populous city in the United States and the centre of the financial world has an avowed socialist as its mayor. His victory speech possessed themes
OMG. The economists are panicking. “Interest rate cuts are off the table,” Mr Bloxham said. “The problem is that productivity is so weak that supply is constrained. So as input costs such as labour and energy rise there is no equal increase in output.” UBS economist George Tharenou said the underlying inflation rate would overshoot