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The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence report for 15 July saw a 2.1-point drop in consumer confidence to a total of 86.5.
The reasoning behind this drop is “likely” the decision to hold interest rates at the Reserve Bank’s July monetary policy meeting.
Despite this, results are in line with the 2025 weekly average consumer confidence score of 86.6.
However, 44 per cent of families reported they are “worse off” than the same time last year, while just 21 per cent said they were “better off”.
Optimism is mixed, with a third of respondents expecting to be worse off financially this time next year and 30 per cent expecting to be better off.
Views on the state of the economy are poor, with just 11 per cent expecting “good times” for the Australian economy in the coming year. This figure climbs to 30 per cent for those anticipating “bad times”.
Similarly, over the next five years, only 12 per cent are expecting positive trends for the economy, while 24 per cent expect it to perform poorly.
A quarter of respondents believe now is a good time to invest in major household items, while 35 per cent view it as a bad time.
ANZ economist Sophia Angala expects the Reserve Bank to cut rates in August and November, which will provide further relief for consumers.
“While the previous upward trend in consumer confidence is stalled for now, we expect a resumption of the improvement this year, as robust yearly growth in disposable incomes and further rate cuts (we expect 25bp cuts in August and November) flow through to households,” said Angala.
“Mortgage holder confidence was steady last week despite the surprise hold by the RBA, though previous rate cuts this year have lifted mortgage-holder confidence and seem to have eased outright owner confidence. Outright owners are more likely to benefit from higher interest rates as they are more likely to be net savers.”
[Related: RBA defies predictions, holds rates]
