Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Our key calls for 2019 GDP growth will probably weaken in both Australia and New Zealand in 2019. And even though the labour market may tighten a little further, inflation is unlikely to rise much. The upshot is that... 3rd January 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response CoreLogic House Prices (Dec.) House prices fell the most in December since the current downturn started and a further deterioration in the balance between supply and demand suggests that prices in Melbourne and Sydney will keep... 2nd January 2019 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Getting banks to lend again We doubt that the phasing-out of caps on interest-only loans will provide much support to the housing market as there’s still a large imbalance between supply and demand. And the government won’t... 21st December 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Chart Pack Tighter credit conditions will weigh on growth The latest NAB survey showed that firms are facing the largest difficulties getting finance since 2012, which suggests that credit growth may slow sharply. (See Chart 1.) That may be a reflection of... 20th December 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Labour Market (Nov.) The solid rise in employment in November will give the Reserve Bank of Australia renewed confidence inits optimistic forecasts following the disappointing Q3 GDP data. But labour market slack is... 20th December 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response New Zealand - GDP (Q3) While GDP growth softened in the third quarter early signs suggest growth may be a little firmer in Q4 so we doubt the Reserve Bank of New Zealand will be too concerned. But we expect GDP growth to... 19th December 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Government only offers Christmas crumbs The Coalition Government indicated in today’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook that it will present some sweeteners ahead of the upcoming election. Even so, fiscal policy will become more... 17th December 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Fiscal outlook improving, housing outlook bleak The rapid improvement in the budget deficit will allow the government to use the upcoming Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook to deliver some early Christmas presents. But the Treasurer will probably... 14th December 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Focus Record housing downturns in Sydney and Melbourne We estimate that house prices in Sydney will eventually decline by 20% from their peak and by 17% in Melbourne. This would make the downturn in each city the largest in modern history. The slowdown in... 12th December 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Flatter US yield curve no big deal for Australia While the flattening of the US yield curve suggests that the US economy is likely to slow soon, it doesn’t tell us much about developments in Australia. And while we expect Australia’s yield curve to... 10th December 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly RBA not ready to cut The financial markets are now pricing in a small chance of a rate cut by the RBA next year following the release of weak GDP data this week. But while we expect GDP growth to slow further next year... 7th December 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response Retail Sales & International Trade (Oct.) Household spending isn’t falling off a cliff just yet but we still think that the downturn in the housing market will restrain consumption growth before long. Meanwhile, net trade may turn into a drag... 6th December 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response GDP (Q3) It would be tempting to blame the slowdown in GDP growth in the third quarter on temporary factors. But we believe that the full effects of falling house prices and tighter credit conditions haven’t... 5th December 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Update Cautious RBA may only hike rates in late-2020 The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) sounded a little more cautious when it left interest rates unchanged at 1.50% for the 28th month. That supports our view that rates will not rise until late in 2020... 4th December 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Data Response CoreLogic House Prices (Nov.) We suspect the decline in house prices in the eight capital cities is going to continue and house prices will go on to eventually fall by at least 12%. 3rd December 2018 · 1 min read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly Budget surplus, looser lending restrictions The rapid decline in the budget deficit suggests that the Government may announce higher spending or tax cuts in next year’s Budget. And Labor has pledged to eliminate a number of tax privileges if it... 30th November 2018 · 1 min read
