Australians are cutting back their spending on nice-to-haves as well as essentials to afford higher rents, analysis of transaction data shows.
Renters hit with a 10 per cent increase recorded a 3.4 percentage points decline in discretionary spending as captured by Visa’s Australian spending momentum index.
The index, which charts the number of people in spending mode, also recorded a sharper 5.1 per cent fall in discretionary spending for debit card-holding renters.
The same group were also found to be pulling back on non-discretionary goods, with the index declining 3.5 per cent.
It was unsurprising to see households cutting back as rents were going up, Visa chief economist Wayne Best said.
“The first place that typically gets cut back is discretionary items, things that are nice to have,” he said.
But a slowdown in spending on essential items showed how higher rents were really starting to hurt consumers.
“And that’s a concern as you look forward, until we see some break in rent prices, and given the supply and demand issues that are associated with it in Australia, that’s going to take a while,” Mr Best said.
Households hit with big rent increases may be struggling, but when all consumers were factored in the spending momentum index for August revealed a larger share of Australians spending compared to a year ago.
The index lifted 5.7 points to 100.5, with discretionary and non-discretionary rates improving.
Mr Best said it was too early to suggest the trend to more cautious spending was shifting, with the year-on-year measures potentially influenced by muted spending during the flooding events last year.
A separate index released by ANZ revealed weakening household consumption nationwide.
The firm’s June quarter ‘stateometer’, which measures economic performance in different states and territories, revealed softening households and business activity due to higher inflation and interest rate hikes.
All states except South Australia recorded below-trend economic performance, with the weak housing sector dragging down all jurisdictions charted by the index. -AAP
