Australian consumers were feeling more confident in mid-August than they had over the last six months.
ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increased 1.5 points to 76.5 over the last week, coming in the week the Reserve Bank left interest rates unchanged at 4.35 per cent.
Consumer confidence is now at its highest since early March, but is still 12.9 points lower than a year ago. However, it is 4.4 points above the 2026 weekly average of 72.1.
The index was driven higher this week due to increasing confidence about people’s financial positions. The confidence of renters has now been higher than both homeowners and those paying off their homes for seven straight weeks since early July.
Now 18 per cent (up 2ppts) of Australians say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, compared to a 49 per cent (down 2ppts) that say their families are ‘worse off’.
Views on personal finances over the next year improved significantly this week, with 25 per cent (up 2ppts) of respondents expecting their family will be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 36 per cent (down 4ppts), expect to be ‘worse off’.
Consumer sentiment on how the economy will perform over the next year saw a slip. Just 6 per cent (down 1ppt) of Australians are expecting ‘good times’ compared to 38 per cent (up 1ppt) who expect ‘bad times’.
There is little change when it comes to Australians’ views about the economy’s performance over the next five years, with 9 per cent (up 1ppt) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years, compared to just over a quarter (28 per cent – up 2ppts) expecting ‘bad times’.
Net buying intentions were also little changed this week, with 17 per cent (down 2ppts) of respondents saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items compared to 41 per cent (down 3ppts) that say now is a ‘bad time to buy major household items’.
ANZ economist Sophia Angala said the overall pick-up in confidence was driven by an improvement in householders’ confidence in their financial situation, especially over the next year.
“On a four-week moving average (4wma) basis, confidence amongst renters is at its highest level since January,” Angala said.
“Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen the biggest gap ever emerge in the 4wma for confidence amongst renters relative to those paying off a mortgage. Compared to households who own their home outright, confidence amongst renters is at its strongest since 2022.
“The softer confidence amongst homeowners may be linked to the recent downturn in the housing market. We have lowered our housing price forecasts and expect capital city housing prices to decline 10.6 per cent from their recent peak.”
An analysis by state shows a consistent theme with consumer confidence increasing in all five mainland states.