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Economic snapshot: 4 things to watch this month

Get up to speed with the latest economic update, offering insights into Australia's financial landscape.

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Graham Cooke's headshot

By

William Capada

&

Graham Cooke

Updated

Fact checked

Australia's economic landscape is in a state of flux. Data from Finder's Consumer Sentiment Tracker (CST), the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and CoreLogic reveals rising home loans, climbing property prices, and increasing credit card spending. To navigate these dynamic trends, it's essential to stay informed. Our latest economic update provides a deep dive into these key indicators, analyzing their causes and exploring the potential ripple effects on your personal finances.

Highlights

  • Investor home loans in Australia hit a record $12.45 billion, a 31.9% rise from last year. Internal refinancing loans reached a record $7.88 billion, a 35% rise from last year.
  • Average house and unit prices in Australia increased by 10.4% and 7.4% respectively.
  • Credit card purchases reached a record high of $35.38 billion in May 2024, reflecting a 4.13% year-on-year increase.
  • The unemployment rate in Australia rose to 4.1% in June 2024.

Record highs in investor and refinancing loans

Investor home loans in Australia reached a record $12.45 billion, with a 14.6% increase from the previous month and a 31.9% rise from last year. The average loan size for investors was $588,454, a 5.7% increase year-on-year but a 1.7% decrease from the previous month.

Internal refinancing loans hit a record $7.88 billion, showing a 35.8% increase from the previous month and a 35% rise from last year. The average internal refinanced loan was $536,867, up 14.7% year-on-year. Meanwhile, external refinancing loans amounted to $11.48 billion, up 16% from the previous month but down 27% from last year. The average external refinanced loan reached $576,737, an increase of 13% year-on-year.

Overall, the total value of refinancing loans in Australia was $19.36 billion, up by 23.3% from the previous month but down by 10.2% from last year.

House and Unit Prices

Over the past year, median house prices have risen by an average of 10.4%. Meanwhile, median unit prices have increased by an average of 7.4%.

For those considering purchasing a property, here's a snapshot of the average prices of houses and units across different capital cities, along with the corresponding 20% deposit, monthly repayment based on 80% of the average price, and the required household income to stay below mortgage stress level (30%).

Credit Card and Debit Card Usage Trends

In May 2024, the total value of purchases using credit cards reached a record high of $35.38 billion, up 5.69% from last year. There were 309.22 million purchases made, reflecting a 4.13% year-on-year increase. The average value of purchases per card was $2,616.

Purchases using debit cards totaled $49.94 billion, up 1.74% from the previous month and 6.04% from last year. The average value per debit card was $1,195.

Labor Market Overview: Unemployment Rate increased to 4.1%

In June 2024, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reported that the unemployment rate rose to 4.1%, up from 4.0% the previous month. The number of employed people was 14,406,051. Full-time employment increased by 43,327 to 9,944,209, while part-time jobs grew by 6,849 to 4,461,843. The underemployment rate decreased to 6.5% compared to the prior month.

For deeper dives into the numbers shaping Australia's economy, don't miss Finder's Insights Hub. Discover a wealth of statistics, consumer research, and expert commentary – your go-to source for understanding the financial landscape.

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Written by

Insights Analyst

William Capada is an insights analyst at Finder. With years of experience as an analyst, he has honed his skills in analysing complex datasets and extracting actionable insights. Proficient in various analytical tools, he has a proven track record of delivering meaningful insights that drive strategic decision-making. William conducts research related to economic data and is also responsible for updating the insights statistics pages. He also assists in ensuring that the scoring makes sense for the Finder Retail Awards. See full bio

William's expertise
William has written 2 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Visualization
  • Retail Awards
Graham Cooke's headshot
Co-written by

Head of consumer research

Graham Cooke is the head of consumer research at Finder. He’s a seasoned analyst and data journalist, who has been covering personal finance, the economy, technology and travel at for eight years. He had taken part in over 500 live TV interviews and appears regularly on ABC News and Radio, 7 and 9 News, Sunrise, Today, Studio 10 and others. Graham is also a contributing author at Money Magazine and Yahoo Finance. See full bio

Graham's expertise
Graham has written 55 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Home loans and the housing market
  • Credit cards
  • Personal finance
  • Finder's RBA Cash Rate Survey
  • Finder Awards
  • Economics
  • FMCG
  • Travel
  • Finder's Consumer Sentiment Tracker
  • Consumer Research

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