The ACTU has submitted a revised minimum wage claim to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) in response to the spike in the inflation rate to 5.1%. The peak union body is now seeking a minimum wage rise of 5.5 %, or $42 per week, up from its initial claim in late March for a 5%
The latest data from the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) showed that around one quarter of mortgages originated in the December quarter of 2021 were at a debt-to-income (DTI) ratio above six times, up from around 15% pre-pandemic: In dollar terms, $137 billion worth of mortgages were issued at a DTI ratio above six times
Last week, retiree Ron de Gruchy was featured on the front page of The West Australian claiming that today’s mortgage holders “have it easy” and that it was much harder for the baby boomer generation when they were trying to service a mortgage: “The high interest rates were a real squeeze on finances but you just adjusted…
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Nearly 25 million tonnes of grain stuck in Ukraine, says UN food agency – Reuters A third Apple store is looking to unionize – The Verge Apple employees revolt against mandatory back-to-work policy – Computer World Honda And Acura Sales Take A Serious Dive – Car Buzz 3 things
CoreLogic has released its May housing and economic chart pack, which shows that Australian rental growth has reaccelerated in 2022, surging by 9.0% in the year to April: As shown above, the surge in rents is broad-based, with every jurisdiction – both city and regional – recording solid-to-strong rises in rents over the past year.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) last week released its half-yearly Financial Stability Report (FSR), which noted that house prices nationally had already fallen more than 4% since November 2021 after having risen a whopping 48% over the prior two years: The RBNZ also noted that New Zealand house prices “remain above sustainable levels
The Australian housing market continues to deflate following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) decision last week to hike interest rates by 0.25%. As noted this morning, the preliminary auction clearance rate hit its lowest level of the year this weekend, led by sharp falls across Sydney and to a lesser extent Melbourne. Mortgage demand had
The Roy Morgan business confidence survey for April has been released with confidence soaring 5.9% after the federal budget cut petrol excise in half, but before the RBA’s decision to hike interest rates 0.25%: There were improvements across the index, and an increasing majority of businesses, 54%, expect ‘good times’ for the Australian economy over
For year’s the Grattan Institute has vigorously supported the ‘Big Australia’ mass immigration policy, claiming it delivers huge benefits for the economy and society. At the same time, Grattan continuously blames a ‘lack of supply’ – caused by said mass immigration – for driving Australia’s housing affordability woes and entrenching intergenerational inequality. The latest example
SEEK has released its jobs dashboard for April, which revealed that job ads rose another 2.9% over the month to be up a whopping 22.5% year-on-year and 59.7% higher than April 2019: Applications per job ad were also down 7.6% month-on-month to be 47.0% lower year-on-year. The next graphic shows the month-on-month changes across each
CoreLogic has released its preliminary auction results for the weekend, which recorded the lowest national clearance rate for 2022. Of the 1,611 results collected so far (out of 2,039 auctions), 64.7% were successful. This overtook last weekend’s 67.2% preliminary clearance rate as the year’s worst result, which was downgraded to 62.9% at final figures. In
Investment legend Jeremy Grantham has labelled the pandemic global property boom the “fifth great bubble of the modern era” and has warned of an impending global property bust as central banks ‘normalise’ interest rates: Grantham is convinced that we’re in the midst of a fifth great bubble of the modern era, following the Wall Street
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Amazon’s captive staff meetings on unions illegal, labor board official finds – Reuters Investors Rush Into Defensive ETFs as Market Turbulence Grows – WSJ Soaring Demand for Palm Oil Puts Rainforests at Risk Again – WSJ How are Bitcoin Miners using options to make money? – Wall Street Pro
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The futures market has truly lost its marbles, ratchetting up its Australian interest expectations even higher. As shown below, the RBA cash rate is now forecast by the market to hit 2.75% by the end of this year and around 3.7% by September 2023: The next table shows what the market’s forecasts would mean for
The latest Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) data shows that New Zealand mortgage commitments collapsed by 27% in the year to March 2022, driven by a 46% decline in investor mortgages: This collapse in demand follows the sharp lift in interest rates across both fixed and floating mortgages alongside the RBNZ’s monetary tightening: Another
Modelling by the University of New South Wales indicates that the annual cost of providing aged-care services is likely to rise significantly in coming decades. The report’s co-author Ellora Shirodkar says the future cost of aged-care services could potentially range from 4% of GDP to 25%. Shirodkar warns that universal entitlement to aged care is
According to a new report in Foreign Affairs, China’s median age could balloon to over 50 by 2050, making it an ultra aged society. To add insult to injury, Xi Jinping’s re-embrace of traditional gender norms is likely to turn the clock back on women’s rights by decades and could exacerbate the root causes of
Former Treasury Secretary, Dr Ken Henry, has lambasted Australia’s plummeting economic performance over the past two decades, which saw the nation’s productivity collapse: Dr Henry said Australia’s economic performance over the last two decades was “a great disappointment” because not enough action had been taken to address challenges policymakers knew were coming”. “We’ve been aware
The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) has presented research on negative gearing and the capital gains tax (CGT) discount, which would have been useful in 2018-19. According to the PBO, both tax lurks overwhelming benefit higher income earners – something MB has argued for years: 57 per cent of negative gearing deductions go to the top
In the week ended 5 May 2022, CoreLogic’s 5-city dwelling values index rose by 0.18% – the strongest rate of growth since mid-January: All major markets experienced value increases: Quarterly price growth remains negative in Sydney and Melbourne, but strongly positive across the other major capitals: Finally, dwelling values across the five major capitals have
The steam had well and truly come out of Australia’s housing market before the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) commenced its monetary tightening on Tuesday. While variable mortgage rates had yet to rise, fixed rates – which comprised around half of all borrowing over the pandemic – had already roughly doubled, according to RBA data:
Global Macro / Markets / Investing: Fed raises interest rates by 0.50%, largest move since 2000 – Yahoo Fed raises rates by half a percentage point — the biggest hike in two decades — to fight inflation – CNBC Distressed debt levels double in US corporate bond market. – FT Apple hires a 31-year Ford
CoreLogic’s final auction report for last weekend has been released, with clearance rates falling to 62.9% nationally – the fourth consecutive week where the final clearance rate has held below 65.0%: Sydney’s final clearance rate plunged to 58.2%, pulling the national result down. It was the lowest final clearance rate recorded for Sydney since the
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has released new car sales data for April, with sales nationally down 12.2% from the same month last year: The annual fall was broad-based, with PMVs (-14.5%), SUV’s (-13.8%) and commercial vehicles (-7.4%) all falling. According to Tony Weber, CEO of FCAI, global supply chain issues continue to
