Customer sentiment has been a strong focus in the media throughout July and CFMG Capital has been keeping a close eye on the varying reports.
A key insight from the Australian Financial Review on July 21 reported that the Commonwealth Bank’s latest household spending intentions index had risen by 6% in June following the Covid-19 restrictions in the months prior.
CBA’s chief economist, Stephen Halmarick, said the increase in household spending intentions could be due to a combination of record low interest rates and the partial reopening of the Australia economy.
‘We saw a large rise in new mortgage applications at CBA as people look to take advantage of the record low interest rates,” Mr Halmarick said.
In relation to the recent Government Home Builder Grant incentive, mortgage inquiries have also been increasing since mid-May according to Homeloanexperts.com.au mortgage broker Alan Hemmings.
‘We have seen a near 100 per cent increase in overall inquiries over the past two months, with an event higher spike when HomeBuilder was announced in early June.’ Mr Hemmings said.
‘We do think house prices will fall over the course of the next six months mainly because of the reduction in population growth with the borders closed,’ he said.
‘But I think what the June number tells us is that people who are still employed are willing to take advantage of these very low interest rates and are getting into the housing market.’