ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence increased 3 points to 84.8 in the first week of 2024, taking the index to its highest since early February 2023.
Consumer confidence began 2024 8.4 points higher than a month ago in early December and is now nearly 7 points above the 2023 weekly average of 78.
Despite the increase, the index has now spent a record 47 straight weeks below the mark of 85 and is 2.6 points lower than the same week a year ago.
ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell said elevated consumer confidence is typical for early January, but pointed out that this year’s lift represented the third-largest January jump in the last 15 years - compared to the prior year’s Q4 average.
“Renter confidence is trending sideways, but there have been sharp increases in the four-week average confidence of outright homeowners and indebted homeowners, likely due to rising housing prices and more stable rates,” Timbrell said.
“We expect consumer confidence to lift meaningfully closer to the long-term average once inflation shows further signs of declining.”
There were mixed results around the states with the index up in the larger states of NSW, Victoria and Queensland but down slightly in Western Australia and South Australia.
Buying intentions were improved this week with 25% (up 4ppts) of Australians saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items. This is the highest figure for this indicator for nearly a year since January 2023.
Meanwhile a minority of 46% (down 5ppts) say now is a ‘bad time to buy’, which is the lowest figure for this indicator for nearly a year since January 2023.
Over the next twelve months, 11% (up 1ppt) of Australians expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy - the highest figure for this indicator for well over 18 months since April 2022, just before the RBA first raised interest rates - while 32% (down 1ppt) expect ‘bad times’.
Net sentiment regarding the Australian economy over the next five years lifted by 3 percentage points to 15%, which is the highest figure for this indicator for over 15 months since September 2022, compared to under a fifth (18% - down 2ppts) expecting ‘bad times’ - the lowest figure for this indicator for nearly a year since March 2023.
When asked about their families, only 19% (down 1ppt) now say are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year, while 52% (up 1ppt) say their families are ‘worse off’.
Looking forward, 34% (unchanged) expect their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year, while 32% (down 1ppt) expect to be ‘worse off’.