ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence dropped 3.2 points to 80.3 this week to its lowest level so far this year.
The index has now spent a record 64 straight weeks below the mark of 85. Consumer confidence is now only 2.3 points above the same week a year ago and 2.5 points below the 2024 weekly average of 82.8.
Driving the weekly decrease in consumer confidence were increasing concerns about personal financial situations and the performance of the Australian economy.
Now under a fifth of Australians (18 per cent - down 4ppts) say their families are ‘better off’ financially than this time last year compared to 51% (up 1ppt) that say their families are ‘worse off’.
Views on personal finances over the next year deteriorated this week with 30 per cent (down 3ppts) expecting their family to be ‘better off’ financially this time next year while another 35% (up 2ppts) expect to be ‘worse off’. These are both the lowest and highest figures respectively so far this year.
Just 9 per cent of Australians (down 2ppts) expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over the next twelve months compared to over a third (35 per cent - up 2ppts), that expect ‘bad times’ - the highest figure for this indicator so far this year.
Net sentiment regarding the Australian economy in the longer term also deteriorated this week with 12 per cent (down 2ppts) of Australians expecting ‘good times’ for the economy over the next five years compared to 23 per cent (up 2ppts) expecting ‘bad times’ - also the highest figure for this indicator so far this year.
Buying intentions were unchanged this week with 23 per cent of Australians saying now is a ‘good time to buy’ major household items while 47 per cent say now is a ‘bad time to buy’.
ANZ economist Madeline Dunk said both mortgage holders and renters are feeling the crunch.
“Looking at the next 12 months, confidence in the outlook for the economy and for households’ personal finances both recorded the largest weekly declines since October last year,” Dunk said. “Both subindices fell to a 2024 low. Confidence about the economic outlook over the next five years also dropped to its weakest level for the year.
“Confidence fell across the three housing cohorts,” Dunk continued. “There was a particularly sharp fall in confidence amongst renters. Meanwhile, those paying off a mortgage recorded their lowest level of confidence this year.
Looking around the states, consumer confidence was down in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia, but up in Western Australia.