CoreLogic has released its final auction results for the weekend just gone with the final national clearance rate softening to 76.8%, down from the 79.9% preliminary clearance rate and also slightly lower than the 77.1% final clearance rate recorded in the prior weekend: It was the lowest weekly final auction clearance rate recorded in 2021;
From SEEK: OVERVIEW OF MARCH 2021: STATE OF THE NATION: Highest number of job ads posted in a month in SEEK’s 23+ year history. Applications per ad at lowest level since 2012. SEEK job ads were up by 10.3% month-on-month (m/m). SEEK job ads were up 75.1% year-on-year (y/y). The top three industries contributing to
Yesterday’s employment report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that the number of jobs across the Australian economy has fully recovered from COVID, rising 0.6% in the year to March: Superficially, Australia’s youth – defined as those aged 16 to 24 – have largely missed the recovery, with the number of youth jobs
One of the most disturbing situations to arise from the coronavirus pandemic is the contempt shown towards Australians stranded abroad, abandoned by our politicians. More than one year on from the beginning of the pandemic and there are still an estimated 35,000 Aussies stranded overseas, shut out by limited flights and quarantine places, as well
CoreLogic’s daily dwelling values index registered another strong increase in the week ended 15 April, with values rising by 0.42% across the five major capital cities: All major capital city markets recorded weekly price growth with Adelaide (0.52%) recording the strongest increase and Perth (0.16%) the smallest: We are half way through April and already
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Like it or not, you’re now invested in Bitcoin – New Statesman S&P futures cut losses after tame inflation report, Nasdaq futures rise – CNBC Bitcoin Hits Another High Of $64,000, Creator Satoshi Nakamoto Happens To Worth More Than China’s Richest Man – Global Trends The Total Market Value
The Victorian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (VCCI) has recommended the Victorian Government follow NSW’s lead and abolish stamp duty in its upcoming 2021 Budget. CEO Paul Guerra says that switching to a broad-based land tax regime will provide greater revenue certainty for the government while reducing the cost burden on home owners: Now is
Over the past few months, the hospitality industry has been one of the most vocal groups demanding migrant workers to ameliorate purported skills shortages. It has successfully secured favour from Liberal MP Julian Leeser, chair of the parliamentary committee looking into skilled migration, with Leeser singling out the hospitality industry as being in dire need
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has released Overseas Arrivals and Departures data for February 2020, which confirmed that net migration into Australia remains negative. There were 22,830 net permanent & long-term departures in the 11 months since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, representing the first time that net arrivals has been
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) yesterday released Building Activity data for the December quarter of 2020, which revealed a big 18.6% rise in dwelling commencements over the quarter driven by a 27.0% surge in detached house commencements: By comparison, unit & apartment commencements rose by only 4.6% over the quarter and are tracking close
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Use of Artificial Intelligence in Cryptocurrency Market – Tech Elevation How Debt and Climate Change Pose ‘Systemic Risk’ to World Economy – NY Times S&P futures cut losses after tame inflation report, Nasdaq futures rise – CNBC Americas: Poll: 15% of Americans worse off a year into pandemic –
Roy Morgan Research has published its Inflation Expectations survey for the month of March, which has almost recovered to pre-COVID levels but remain soft when viewed on an historical basis. Australians now expect inflation of 3.8% annually over the next two years, the highest level since February and March last year (both 4.0%) and still
Data from the Treasury shows that the coronavirus-induced restrictions on international travel have boosted the Australian economy. According to the Treasury, domestic tourism grew the economy by $7.5 billion over the December quarter, the equivalent of around 1.5% of GDP, as Australians holidayed at home and spent their money locally. This led to an upbeat
SQM Research has released its rental report for March, which reveals an extremely tight rental market outside of Sydney and Melbourne, which are suffering from high apartment vacancies from the collapse of international student arrivals. As shown in the next table, the national rental vacancy rate rose 0.1% in March to also be 0.1% higher
Yesterday, we learned about the Greens’ ridiculous plan to import 200,000 elderly parents via the ‘Family stream’ of Australia’s permanent migration program. Below is a breakdown of the Greens’ policy proposal, which you can read in full on its website: There are 200,000 parents of migrants ‘stranded’ overseas. Some migrant families have to wait 30
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: UN chief urges wealth tax of those who profited during COVID – ABC Simple Math Is About to Cause an Inflation Problem – Bloomberg A digital dollar would help the U.S. and its allies keep China in check – CNBC How Much Does Amazon, Apple Facebook And Tesla Make
Former Prime Minister and architect of Australia’s compulsory superannuation system, Paul Keating, headlined Alan Kohler’s four-part special on the future of retirement, aired on ABC’s 7.30 Report. In this report, Paul Keating erroneously claimed that Australia’s ageing population would make the current Aged Pension system unsustainable without increases in the compulsory superannuation guarantee (SG): PAUL
CoreLogic has released its Quarterly Auction Market Review, which reveals that Australia’s combined capital city auction clearance rate was the strongest on record in the March quarter of 2021: CoreLogic’s weekly auction clearance rate across the combined capitals has been at or above 80% just five times since 2008, and four of those were in
Just over a year ago, COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO). A nation-wide lockdown ensued, which was followed by a further 14-week hard lockdown across Victoria over winter and then several short lockdowns across various states. Australia’s property market was negatively impacted at the beginning of the pandemic. Millions
Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who chairs a parliamentary committee looking into skilled migration, appeared on Sky News (video below) where he argued that flights and quarantine places should be reserved for skilled migrants “to get businesses moving again”: “I think there is a strong view among business that it [the skilled visa system] has become
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: How likely will the US’s “Global Minimum Corporate Tax” plan affect tax havens like the Cayman Islands? Will it effectively kill their financial services economies? – Fast Company The Market Value Of Cryptocurrency Exceeds 2 Trillion U.S. Dollars – Global Trends Investors have put more money into stocks in
Over the past few years we have witnessed housing ‘experts’, planners and policy wonks endlessly spruik ‘tiny homes’ as a solution to Australia’s chronic housing affordability problems. The most recent example was a fortnight ago. The reality could not be further from the truth. Travel throughout Australia and you will find caravan parks providing long-term
Over the past month we have witnessed two fundamental reforms to New Zealand’s property market. First, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) reintroduced loan-to-value ratio (LVR) mortgage restrictions, which from 1 March 2021 required both investors and owner-occupiers to stump-up bigger deposits: Second, and more importantly, the New Zealand Government on 23 March announced
Several commentators have questioned the efficacy of Australian financial regulators imposing macroprudential mortgage curbs, arguing that it would disproportionately harm first home buyers (FHBs) who tend to take out larger mortgages with smaller deposits: Alison Pennington, senior economist at the Australia Institute’s Centre For Future Work, claims macro-prudential tightening “would have unequal and unfair consequences
CoreLogic has released its preliminary auction results for the weekend, which reported a clearance rate of 79.9% off 1,879 auctions. This was up on the 79.4% preliminary figure recorded last week, which was later revised down to 77.1% at final collection. Sydney continued to lead the way recording a preliminary clearance rate of 82.8% off
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: The Market Value Of Cryptocurrency Exceeds 2 Trillion U.S. Dollars – Global Trends The zombie company problem and what it means for our economies – The Conversation Investors have put more money into stocks in the last 5 months than the previous 12 years combined – CNBC Partisan politics
The Victorian Government’s revised hotel quarantine program resumed yesterday after being paused for five months last year following the destructive second wave outbreak and again from mid-February after virus again leaked into the community prompting another hard lockdown. Thus, after being closed for roughly half the time since its inception in late March 2020 after
CoreLogic has released its final auction clearance results for the Easter long weekend, with the nation’s clearance rate falling to 77.1%, down from the recent high of 83.1% recorded the prior weekend: In fact, it was the first time in five weeks that the final national clearance rate fell below 80%. Auction volumes were also
Roy Morgan Research has released its labour force estimates for March 2021, which reports that the number of Australians employed (12.75 million) has returned to its pre-COVID level in early March 2020. Australia’s unemployment rate also fell to 11.4%, which was the lowest level since early March 2020. Whereas underemployment (7.6%) in March 2021 was
Australian dwelling values grew less strongly in the week ended 8 April, only registering a 0.34% rise across the five major markets: It was the softest weekly price increase in nine weeks, which illustrates just how strong the nation’s property market has been. Sydney continued to lead the nation’s dwelling value growth, recording a rise
