Data Diary

Turning to Australian consumer spending, the data suggests that the recent fall in consumer confidence (here) is not an outlier event. So while new motor vehicle sales have recovered the magic million mark (from the ABS here): The trend is sales volumes has turned decidely southward: Perhaps more poignant for the state of the consumer [...]

The release of the latest current account data by the ABS (here) was met within universal approval.  It’s not hard to see why – a bumper trade surplus has Australia within sight of the other side of the ledger: Here we have the current account deficit pulling back under $5bn for the first time in [...]

The RBA updated its household finances data today (see table B-21 here). We’ll return to the theme later – for the moment let’s just note that while we might have expected interest to disposable income to have risen with the increases in official interest rates, debt to disposable income was also up.

The ‘Australian housing bubble’ chorus has grown in voice recently – the IMF and the RBA, hedge funds and ‘traditional’ funds managers have all been questioning the recent price action in Australian housing.  With the Fairfax stable running a week long feature on the housing market in their various papers – the sentiment gauge is [...]

The RBA released lending and finance data for February today (here). The growth in housing credit remains the highlight – with business credit also looking like it is ready to turn the corner: Housing has all the feel of a speculative surge – with record volumes and clearance rates – for commentary brought to you [...]

Been working my way through the RBA’s February Statement on Monetary Policy (click here).  It’s a good read – and presents a picture of pretty healthy domestic economy. Still with our housing market continuing to power on - latest gossip is that Australian housing has become the carry trade of choice for Chinese real estate speculation [...]