Australia’s auction market ended 2023 in the gutter, with the national clearance rate averaging 59% in December, down from a peak of 71% in May 2023. Dwelling value growth has likewise turned down: This downturn in clearance rates and prices has been driven by Melbourne and Sydney. Melbourne’s auction clearance rate averaged just 57% in
A nice wrap from Bloomie summarizes the problems with the LNP energy policy and Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs). The tiniest of the more than 70 such reactors that the IAEA has recorded as being in the planning or development stages have a height of 10 metres and a diameter of less than 5 metres
The Housing Industry Association has used its budget submission to urge federal government action to address chronic labour shortages in the construction sector. One of its key recommendations is for changes to the visa system to attract migrants with the trade skills that are in short supply, including through a “construction trade contractor visa”. The
The CBA’s analysis of the Stage 3 tax cuts highlighted the extent to which Australians are getting reamed by personal income taxes. As shown in the next chart from CBA, the quarterly amount of income tax payable soared by a whopping 23.4% in the year to September 2023 (latest available data). But over the same
Last month, Treasurer Jim Chalmers spruiked on Twitter (X) that Labor had delivered Australians the strongest wage growth in 15 years: This was followed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who told the National Press Club last week that “just as we promised Australians – wages are moving again… Wages are growing at their fastest rate
On Wednesday, I was interviewed by Ben Fordham at Radio 2GB where I explained how Australia’s households are mired in recession, as evidenced by Tuesday’s weak retail sales. I also explained why Australia should slash immigration to ease the cost-of-living crisis and raise living standards. Below are highlights from the interview alongside key charts. Edited
The latest results from CoreLogic showed that Australian home values hit a record high in January at both the combined capital city and national level: The next chart from CBA plots the time series, with values more than recovering the losses induced from the beginning of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) monetary tightening cycle:
The Westpac Red Book is out and has special significance this month as the household recession deepens. The Westpac–Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index continues to hold around very weak levels, dipping 1.3% over the three months to January. At 81, the Index remains in deeply pessimistic territory. Cost-of-living pressures continue to dominate. The moderation in
Another one-two punch of an interest rate meeting and US domestic economic print overnight saw bond yields and USD lower as the BOE met and did nothing while the latest ISM Manufacturing print was solid but unsurprising. Wall Street rebounded while Europe floundered and Asian futures are up slightly as a result. The Australian dollar
The Market Ear with the anatomy of a selloff. A bit too euphoric BofA writes: “…forward returns when sentiment hits euphoria are not appalling in a bull market. Especially when the market breadth is running at healthy levels, such as today’s.” BofA Finally SPX starting to pay attention to VIX finally. SPX vs VIX inverted.