Roy Morgan Research (RMR) has partnered up with ANZ to provide its weekly consumer confidence survey, which registered a 0.7% increase last week:
However, over the month of February, consumer confidence fell by 0.9%, retracing much of the solid bounce experienced around the months of the September federal election to be just above its long-run average:
The correlation between consumer’s views about their financial situation and household consumption growth is strong, according to ANZ:
As is the link between house price growth and views about the economy (the wealth effect seems alive and well):
However, as we know there are major structural headwinds coming – in the form of falling commodity prices, declining mining investment, and the car industry’s collapse – that could easily put a spanner in the works over the medium-term.
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