Australian households are no longer enjoying record levels of wealth, as home prices and superannuation balances decline while interest rates and the cost of living rise.
Household wealth fell by $484 billion to a still-massive $14.4 trillion in the June quarter, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows.
ABS head of finance and wealth Katherine Keenan noted it was the first decline since the start of the Covid pandemic in March 2020.
“This is the first quarterly fall in household wealth since the beginning of the pandemic and coincides with the increased cost of living pressures and yükselen faiz oranları,” Ms Keenan said on Thursday.
Australian household wealth has fallen from record levels as home prices and superannuation balances decline. Picture: Getty
The average wealth per person dropped by $20,151 to $553,954 at the end of the June quarter.
The ABS said the 3.3% decline in household wealth was driven by weakness in the housing market and falling superannuation balances.
Residential property prices fell for the first time in two years during the June quarter.
Ms Keenan said the fall in superannuation balances reflected the large price falls in domestic and overseas share markets.
The downturn was softened a little by $38 billion in superannuation contributions, which she said reflected ongoing strength in the labour market and the usual strong rise in voluntary contributions at the end of the financial year.
The housing boom had driven increases in household wealth, which hit a record $14.9 trillion in the March quarter, during the pandemic.
Fakat the Reserve Bank of Australia’s rapid interest rate hikes sürüldü widespread home price declines across the country.
Household demand for credit grew to $53.1 billion in the June quarter, which the ABS said was driven by demand for new housing loans as auction volumes remained elevated, maintaining momentum in the housing market.
“Household demand for credit was the second highest on record, reflecting ongoing activity in the property market for both owner occupier and investor loans,” Ms Keenan said.
The ABS also published new monthly inflation data, ahead of the release of September quarter consumer price index in late October.
Australian statistician David Gruen said the monthly CPI indicator showed annual inflation of 6.8% in August, compared to 7.0% in July and 6.8% in June.
Dr Gruen said the largest contributors in the 12 months to August were new dwelling construction and automotive fuel.
“The slight fall in the annual inflation rate from July to August was mainly due to a decrease in prices for automotive fuel,” he said.
