Inflation jumped from 5.1% to a new long-term high of 6.1% in the June quarter, a rate matched only by a short-lived jump caused by the introduction of the goods and services tax, and has not exceeded since 1990. With the exception of the introduction of the GST, it’s the furthest inflation has been from…
What does “the average Australian” look like? After every census, this is one of the questions people like to see answered. Average on one measure or on several? If the latter, would “average Australians” number in the millions, as most inquirers no doubt assume? Or would the “average” turn out to be atypical – a…
Some landlords mistakenly think that standard home and contents insurance is the right choice for their investment property. That could prove costly if they need to make a claim. Tenants Rentals have tenants. And that’s the fundamental difference between an investment property and a private residential property. Sounds basic, but it’s an important difference when…
Greed, desire, wishful thinking and naivety are lucrative markets for scam artists – and their age-old hustles are increasingly being supplemented by digital chicanery. In 2021 Australians lost an estimated $2 billion to fraudsters, more than double that of 2020, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The consumer watchdog’s latest scam report details…
On the surface, the latest census tells us home ownership has changed little over the past five years. Between the 2016 census and this census in 2021, the share of Australians owning their homes remained steady at about 66%. The proportion of renting also changed little, climbing from 30% to 30.6%. But a closer look…
Rising interest rates and living costs can make paying off a home loan feel a bit harder in 2022. There’s a reason for this: the average homeowner was set to pay almost $2,000 more per year after the June RBA cash rate rise, according to the analysis from Finder. On top of that, everything from energy…
Where do the world’s millionaires migrate to? The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become a millionaire magnet, with a projected 4,000 HNWIs (high net worth individuals) flowing into the country by the end of 2022. This influx of ultra-wealthy people is partly because of the country’s accommodating immigration policies that are specially tailored to attract…
What is happening to Australian household debt? What is RBA going to do about the interest rates to control inflation? These and other questions were raised and answered by Dr. Shane Oliver, Head of Investment Strategy and Economics and Chief Economist at AMP in his recent Insight. Introduction If Australia has an Achilles’ heel it’s…
More than 25 million people Australians sat down on (or around) Tuesday, August 20 last year to complete their census. Despite our borders still largely being closed, that was an 8.6% increase in the number of people completing the census in 2021 compared to the last time we broke the internet to do it (in…
There signs emerging that Aussie consumers are now preferring to spend their money on other things rather than cars and homes. Earlier this year a report published by CommSec, noted the slowdowns at the ‘top end’ of the housing and new vehicle markets. And the slowdown has continued since. This is insightful because in the…
