ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence was virtually unchanged at 76.6 this week, rising just 0.1 percentage points on last week.
Consumer confidence is now 14.5pts below the same week a year ago, March 21-27, 2022 (91.1) and 5.1pts below the 2023 weekly average of 81.7.
Consumer Confidence has now been below 80 for four straight weeks, averaging 77.5. This is the first time the measure has been below this mark for four consecutive weeks since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, however the four-week average at that time was only 71.9.
Consumer Confidence was up slightly in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, but down in Western Australia and South Australia.
Views on personal finances and whether now is a ‘good time to buy major household items’ improved slightly this week, according to Roy Morgan and ANZ, but views on the performance of the economy going forward were down slightly.
Now 21% of Australians (up 2ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, compared to a majority of 52% (unchanged) that say their families are ‘worse off’ financially.
Looking forward, 30% (unchanged) expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 36% (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’.
Sentiment on the Australian economy ahead is weak, with 5% (down 1ppt) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next 12 months, which is the lowest figure for this indicator since early August 2020, with 10% expecting ‘good times’ over the next five years.
Conversely, 40% (up 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’ ahead for the next 12 months, and 21% expect it for the next five years - the equal highest figure for this indicator so far this year.
Meanwhile, 19% (up 1ppt) of Australians say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items, while 53% (down 2ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.
ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell said the index, in six of the past seven weeks, was among the 12 worst results since the COVID outbreak.
“Confidence among those paying off their mortgage rebounded 2.9pts after a 4.3pts fall the week before,” Timbrell said. “Confidence among renters and outright homeowners declined 0.5pts and 1.8pts respectively after increases last week.
Confidence in ‘current economic conditions’ and whether ‘it is a good time to buy a major household item’ have been below 70 for the last seven weeks.
“Confidence in ‘future finances’ rose a little as ‘inflation expectations’ eased.”