Seasonally adjusted hours worked fell by 8.8 per cent between December 2021 and January 2022, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The changes in hours worked were more pronounced than for other key indicators, with employment increasing by around 13,000 people, unemployment by 6,000 people and the unemployment rate remaining at 4.2 per cent.
But there are deeper reasons why the numbers are the way they are, and today we explore this…. in a word – migration, or the lack of it…!
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
New data from the Commonwealth Bank reveals quarterly migration from capital cities to regional areas over the past two years is averaging 15 per cent higher than what is was in the two years pre-COVID 19.
A structural break in migration patterns has emerged during the two years of the pandemic. Capital city dwellers moving to the regions have generally accounted for a 6.1 per cent share, up from the 5.3 per cent share pre-pandemic. Meanwhile the share of regional people making a city move has ebbed and flowed a little more, but has hovered around a 4 per cent share during the pandemic, down from the 4.3 per cent share pre-pandemic.
National home loan affordability fell “dramatically” in 2021, with a record calendar year decline of 14.5 per cent, according to non-bank lender Bluestone.
Bluestone Home Loans has released its Home Loan Affordability Index for December quarter, revealing the index fell to 93.8 in December 2021 quarter compared to 82.9 in the December 2020 quarter.
And the HIA says affordability constraints in detached housing are expected to push some households into townhouses and apartments. A return of migration will assist in offsetting the impact of a rise in interest rates for multi-unit construction.
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.
If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you.
Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side.
Emotions run high – price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make.
Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest.
Shoot Ribbon an email on info@ribbonproperty.com.au & use promo code: DFA-WTW/MARTIN to receive your 10% DISCOUNT OFFER.
We cover an important article by Dale Webster about the shocking reduction in bank branches in regional and rural areas across Australia. This is going to be a significant election issue, with a new Government report due in about a months time.
Regional Australia has lost close to two thirds of its bank branches since the network was at its peak in the 1970s, according to lists published by the banks that have become the ‘big four’ in 1975.
Numbers have gone from 2802 banks in 1126 regional locations to just 1075 in 387 regional towns, cities and coastal communities in just over 45 years.
That is a loss of 1727 bank branches, or a cut of 62 per cent.
ANZ now has the smallest regional bank network in Australia with just 194 of its original 615 branches outside metropolitan cities still open, a cut of 68.5 per cent.
Westpac has the second smallest regional footprint after slashing 70 per cent of non-metropolitan branches, leaving it with 231 from its original 777.
National Australia Bank has 315 regional branches still open but has closed 445, or 58.5 per cent of its original regional network of 760.
Commonwealth Bank is the only one of the ‘big four’ that still has more regional branches open than it has closed, with 335 of its original 650 remaining open, a 48.5 per cent reduction.
This is an edited version of a live discussion on the financial system, who runs it, and for what end, with Robbie Barwick, National Research Director Australian Citizens Party. https://citizensparty.org.au/our-party/our-team
We covered ASIC, APRA, and RBA, Deposit Bail-In, Investor Protection And Glass-Steagall among other topics.
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
Join us for a live discussion as I discuss the financial system, who runs it, and for what end, with Robbie Barwick, National Research Director Australian Citizens Party. https://citizensparty.org.au/our-party/our-team
We will cover ASIC, APRA, and RBA, Deposit Bail-In, Investor Protection And Glass-Steagall among other topics.
In the dog days of the political cycle, we are getting a series of frankly worrying announcements from the state and federal governments, which superficially might sound like an initiative to help people buy homes, but in fact are simply extending the current Ponzi , at a time when home prices and interest rates are now on the turn.
Today’s post is brought to you by Ribbon Property Consultants.
If you are buying your home in Sydney’s contentious market, you do not need to stand alone. This is the time you need to have Edwin from Ribbon Property Consultants standing along side you.
Buying property, is both challenging and adversarial. The vendor has a professional on their side.
Emotions run high – price discovery and price transparency are hard to find – then there is the wasted time and financial investment you make.
Edwin understands your needs. So why not engage a licensed professional to stand alongside you. With RPC you know you have: experience, knowledge, and master negotiators, looking after your best interest.
Shoot Ribbon an email on info@ribbonproperty.com.au & use promo code: DFA-WTW/MARTIN to receive your 10% DISCOUNT OFFER.
A deep dive of our mortgage stress analysis to end of January 2022, plus some rate sensitivity analysis and mapping. Where are the hot spots? How many households are under pressure?
Rate Sensitivity
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
In today’s show we discuss the week on the market, starting in the US and ending in Australia. As I need to remind you, we here are not disconnected from the events on those other major markets. We are a cork on the ocean.
Wall Street stocks ended sharply lower on Friday (for the second straight session, as investors fretted about deepening tensions between Russia and Ukraine and the fallout from prospective higher rates. Just remember the FED has NOT lifted rates, nor started quantitative tightening .. yet.
Nine of the 11 major S&P 500 sector indexes declined, led by technology, down 3.0 per cent, and consumer discretionary, down 2.8 per cent. The energy sector index surged 2.8 per cent as oil prices hit seven-year highs.
With investors already fretting about inflation and rising interest rates, selling on Wall Street accelerated after Washington warned that Russia had massed enough troops near Ukraine to launch a major invasion, and that an attack could begin any day.
Go to the Walk The World Universe at https://walktheworld.com.au/
