A review of this week’s economic data, December 11 to December 15.

December 15, 2017

CORELOGIC CAPITAL CITY HOUSE PRICES

The number of homes going under the hammer across the nation bounced back from a two-year low in the week to December 10, but house prices hardly moved. More than 3,350 auctions were held across the combined capital cities, returning a national auction clearance rate of 63.1 per cent. That compares to the previous week’s 60.3 per cent, which was the lowest since late 2015. 

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ANZ-ROY MORGAN CONSUMER CONFIDENCE WEEKLY SURVEY

Consumer confidence fell 0.6 per cent in the week to December 10 as households continued to struggle with high debt levels and ongoing weak wage growth. This reversed the previous week’s 0.7 per cent improvement. However, consumer confidence remains above its long-run average.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS HOME PRICES FOR SEPTEMBER QUARTER

Average home prices across all eight capitals combined fell 0.2 per cent in the September quarter, the first decline since the March quarter of 2016. Sydney drove the drop in prices, down 1.4 per cent, its largest fall since the December quarter of 2015. However, home values in Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart improved.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS LENDING FINANCE FOR OCTOBER

Commercial loans, including mortgages to investors, fell 1.6 per cent to $39.9 billion in October, while home loans to owner-occupiers were steady at $20.5 billion. Personal loans rose 1.6 per cent to $6.4 billion in the month and lease finance jumped 4.7 per cent to $592 million.

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AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS LABOUR FORCE FOR NOVEMBER

The total number of jobs rose by 61,600 in November, the biggest increase in more than two years and far higher than the 19,000 the market had expected. However, a rise in the number of people employed or actively looking for work, to 65.5 per cent, kept the unemployment rate steady at 5.4 per cent.