Explore the complexities of Australia’s 2024 financial landscape. Discover insights on property prices, interest rates, housing shortages and the cost-of-living crisis. Learn how these factors influence everyday Aussies and provoke thought on current economic headlines.
It’s safe to say that 2024 has been one of the most conflicting years when it comes to navigating financial markets.
Property prices in some states are growing faster than they were through Covid, yet interest rates are at cycle high levels? People are meant to have slowed down with their spending, but seemingly the population keeps finding the cash to put into key areas which is causing confusion amongst economists.
While I’m no economist, I have worked in the property and financial services industry for 10+ years – And run a weekly podcast specifically geared towards educating the everyday Aussie on all things finance, property and mortgages without the jargon. These are topics I live and breathe, and I want to share my thoughts on a few points in simple terms to hopefully provoke some thoughts or questions when you’re reading the headlines blasting our retinas on the daily.
Think about this;
Arguably, the most important financial issues our government needs to resolve right now are Housing Shortages, and the Cost-of-living crisis.
On the flip side of that coin, significant pricing increases in housing/construction, food and non-alcoholic beverages, and clothing, are the primary drivers for sticky inflation and higher than ideal CPI increases.
So, unless we stop eating, putting roofs over our heads and start walking around in the nude, we’re probably not going to see this ease any faster. We need to recognise that the every day punter is running out of cash or they are out of cash, and unable to live comfortably!
What’s the delay?
The government assess their decisions based on historical data and looking back at the stats – So there’s a decent lag in what they’re forecasting, as the impact we’re feeling on the ground today could be vastly different to what they’re looking at in the rear view mirror.
Have a think about the number of businesses going under at the moment in certain industries.
Hospitality is suffering, micro-brewing is done, even large alcohol and beverage groups are going under, and these are the names in every bottle shop in the country. We’ve even seen large international brands shutting down all their Aussie operations – We’re not in great shape!
How is this affecting my interest rates?
Well, the uncertainty in the market has made interest rates increasingly difficult to “predict”. I put that word in quotation marks because I truly feel that no one has any idea where we go from here. We’re at the point in the process where data points to cataclysmic devastation and growth and prosperity, all at once?
I mentioned in a recent podcast that our economy swings like a giant pendulum, and that changing direction or stopping in any direction does not do so quickly. There will be a delay in the actions taken by the government when things are “under control” – From an economic standpoint I assure you it will be evident they went too hard on us punters paying way too much for gas this winter.
Check out the podcast episode mentioned in this article!