This is the view of the ANZ-Roy Morgan ‘consumer confidence’ report, which continues to edge up, rising one point to 129.4, its highest level since January 2010.
“And it’s not just the onset of summer and holiday festivities – our seasonally adjusted estimates show the same pattern of improvement, with overall confidence (129.8) by this measure at its highest since February 2007,” says ANZ.
“Consumers are still positive regarding their own financial prospects in the year ahead (+37). Views on the general economy a year out are still upbeat (+27), as is sentiment towards the economy five years out (+35).
“While the net balance of consumers feeling better off than a year ago eased fractionally, at +9 this is well above the net balance of -7 last December. More encouraging for durable goods retailers, is the climb in the balance of respondents viewing it to be a good time to buy a major household item (+39), which hit a four-month high after a period of declines.
“When we combine consumer confidence with our business confidence equivalent we end up with a composite growth indicator flagging the potential for 5% plus growth by early next year. That looks a stretch to us, but it’s nonetheless telling us something about the economic expansion we’re in: it has real legs and further to run,” says ANZ.
