Purchase Intentions Down, but Confidence Remains Steady

According to Roy Morgan, Australian confidence levels have lifted 1.4 points, now sitting at 85.6 – while this is still low, it is now at the highest point since early June this year.

The level of confidence is well below the same period in 2022 (101.6) – a difference of 16 points. Moreover, it’s also 5.9 points below the 2022 weekly average of 91.5.

“Consumer confidence rose for a second straight week as it gained 1.7 percent. The unemployment rate dropping to 3.4 percent in July might have helped boost sentiment, though the news on wages, especially in real terms, was disappointing,” shared David Plank, the ANZ Head of Australian Economics.

He further explained that despite the consistently low consumer confidence, Australian consumers are increasingly optimistic about their future financial situations, despite the increases in interest rates.

“The increase in overall sentiment was mainly driven by a second consecutive jump in the subindex that captures ‘current economic conditions’. Confidence in the near-term economic outlook remains exceptionally weak, however,” Plank continued.

Regarding purchase intentions, there has been a small slip in Australians saying that now is a good time to buy major household items, down one percentage point to 22 percent. This is the lowest figure for over two years, last hitting this point at the early stages of the pandemic in April 2020.

There has also been a dip in the number of Australians saying that now is a bad time to buy major household items, falling three percentage points since last week. However, the majority (46 percent) still believe that now is a bad time to buy.

“Across the major states, confidence improved in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and SA, while it fell in WA ‒ although confidence is higher in WA than any other state,” Plank said.

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