ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence rose to 79.8 this week, up 1.8pts on last week and 0.8pts two weeks ago.
However, consumer confidence has now spent nine straight weeks below the mark of 80, according to ANZ and Roy Morgan, which is the longest stretch below 80 since the index began being conducted on a weekly basis in October 2008.
The last time consumer confidence spent at least nine weeks under 80 was during the 1990-91 recession, when the index was conducted on a monthly basis.
Consumer confidence is now 10.9pts below the same week a year ago, April 25 – May 1, 2022 (90.7) and 0.9pts below the 2023 weekly average of 80.7.
The index was mixed around the states, with increases in Queensland and WA, but down in NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
ANZ and Roy Morgan reported that the driver of this week’s increase was more confidence regarding personal financial situations and less concern about the Australian economy over the next year and next five years.
Now 20% of Australians (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, compared to half (unchanged) that say their families are ‘worse off’ financially.
Looking forward, under a third of Australians (31% - up 1ppt) expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while over a third (34% - down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’.
Only 6% (down 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months, compared to over a third (35% - down 3ppts) that expect ‘bad times’.
Sentiment regarding the Australian economy in the longer term remains very weak, with only 11% (unchanged) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years, compared to 19% (down 4ppts) expecting ‘bad times’.
A fifth of Australians (20% - unchanged) say now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items while over half (52% - up 1ppt) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.
ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell said this is the biggest increase since mid-February, despite being in “deeply negative territory”.
“This was driven by outright homeowners, whose confidence jumped 3.7pts on average, compared with more modest increases among renters (+0.5pts) and those paying off their homes (+0.6pts),” Timbrell said. “This may be due to an uptick in housing prices in March and April.
“Confidence about both finances and the economy rose during the week, with the strongest gain in confidence about ‘future economic conditions.’
“Inflation expectations moderated to 5.0%, its lowest result since the first week of 2023.”