Consumer Confidence: Highest Since Mid-July

Consumer confidence rose 1.8 points last week to 84.1 points. The four-week moving average rose 0.3 points to 83.0 points.

‘Weekly inflation expectations’ rose 0.2 percentage point to 4.8 per cent, while the four-week moving average was steady at 4.7 per cent.

‘Current financial conditions’ (over the last year) declined 1.2 points, while ‘future financial conditions’ (next 12 months) increased by 3.1 points.

‘Short-term economic confidence’ (next 12 months) rose 2.3 points and ‘medium-term economic confidence’ (next five years) increased by 2.4 points.

The ‘time to buy a major household item’ subindex rose 2.3 points.

“Consumer Confidence rose 1.8 points to an eight-week high, remaining just below the mid-July peak,” ANZ Economist, Madeline Dunk said.

“The increase was broad-based, with current financial conditions being the only subindex to decline.

“The future financial conditions subindex increased 3.1 points to a six-month high. Households were feeling more confident about the economic outlook.

“Momentum has diverged across the housing cohorts. Since late-August, the four-week moving average of confidence for households who own their home outright has lifted 1.7 points, whereas it fell 1.3 points for renters and 0.2 points for those

paying off a mortgage.

“While renters remain more confident than those with a mortgage, the gap between the two groups is narrowing.”

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