Economic snapshot: 4 things to watch this month

Get up to speed with the latest economic update, offering insights into Australia's financial landscape.

William Capada's headshot
Graham Cooke's headshot

By

William Capada

&

Graham Cooke

Updated

Fact checked

Australia's economic landscape is in a state of flux. Data from Finder's Consumer Sentiment Tracker (CST), the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), and CoreLogic reveals rising home loans, climbing property prices, and increasing credit card spending. To navigate these dynamic trends, it's essential to stay informed. Our latest economic update provides a deep dive into these key indicators, analyzing their causes and exploring the potential ripple effects on your personal finances.

Highlights

  • The average loan size for Owner-occupier in Australia hit a record $641,416, while the average loan for Investors reached $609,652.
  • Credit card purchases reached $36.15 billion in September 2024, while debit card purchases saw a decrease to $51.70 billion compared to the previous month.
  • Total household spending in Australia reached $69.9 billion, with $39.4 billion spent on goods and $30.6 billion allocated to services.
  • The unemployment rate dropped to 4.1% in September 2024.

Record highs for average loan sizes in owner occupier and investor home loans

Owner occupier home loans totaled $16.66 billion, down 3.5% monthly but up 13.4% yearly. Loan numbers hit 25,973, dropping 4.3% monthly but rising 5.9% yearly. The average loan size was $641,416, up 0.8% monthly and 7.1% yearly. Investor home loans totaled $11.22 billion, down 5.1% monthly but up 29.7% yearly. Loan numbers reached 18,400, dropping 4.9% monthly but rising 20.3% yearly. The average loan size was $609,652, down 0.2% monthly but up 7.8% yearly.

Credit Card and Debit Card Usage Trends

In September 2024, the total value of credit card purchases in Australia reached $36.15 billion, reflecting a 0.3% decrease from the previous month but a 4.33% increase compared to the same period last year. The number of purchases totaled 313.35 million, showing a 0.78% decline month-over-month but a 2.71% rise year-over-year. The average purchase value per card stood at $2,969.14.

Debit card purchases totaled $51.70 billion, down 0.35% from the previous month but up 9.23% compared to last year. The average purchase amount per debit card was $1,211.98.

Monthly Household spending in Australia

According to ABS, total household spending in Australia reached $69.9 billion, up 1.3% from the previous year. This included $39.4 billion spent on goods and $30.6 billion on services. The average household expenditure was $6,977 in September 2024.

On average, Australians spend an average of $1,126 per month on food, $343 on alcohol and tobacco, and $369 on clothing and footwear. Furnishing and household equipment costs total $513 monthly, while health-related expenses average $852. Transportation is the largest expense at $1,186 per month, followed by recreation and culture at $1,099. Additionally, Australians spend $813 monthly on hotels, cafes, and restaurants, and $696 on miscellaneous goods and services.

Unemployment Rate decreased to 4.1%

In September 2024, Australia’s unemployment rate decreased slightly to 4.1% from 4.2%. Total employment rose to 14,537,523, with full-time jobs growing by 9,724 to 10,037,733 and part-time jobs increasing by 50,604 to 4,499,790. Meanwhile, the underemployment rate saw a small decline to 6.2%.

For deeper dives into the numbers shaping Australia's economy, don't miss Finder's Insights Hub. Discover a wealth of statistics, consumer research, and expert commentary – your go-to source for understanding the financial landscape.

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Written by

Insights Analyst

William Capada is an insights analyst at Finder. With years of experience as an analyst, he has honed his skills in analysing complex datasets and extracting actionable insights. Proficient in various analytical tools, he has a proven track record of delivering meaningful insights that drive strategic decision-making. William conducts research related to economic data and is also responsible for updating the insights statistics pages. He also assists in ensuring that the scoring makes sense for the Finder Retail Awards. See full bio

William's expertise
William has written 3 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Data Analysis
  • Data Visualization
  • Retail Awards
Graham Cooke's headshot
Co-written by

Head of consumer research

Graham Cooke is the head of consumer research at Finder. He’s a seasoned analyst and data journalist, who has been covering personal finance, the economy, technology and travel at for eight years. He had taken part in over 500 live TV interviews and appears regularly on ABC News and Radio, 7 and 9 News, Sunrise, Today, Studio 10 and others. Graham is also a contributing author at Money Magazine and Yahoo Finance. See full bio

Graham's expertise
Graham has written 56 Finder guides across topics including:
  • Home loans and the housing market
  • Credit cards
  • Personal finance
  • Finder's RBA Cash Rate Survey
  • Finder Awards
  • Economics
  • FMCG
  • Travel
  • Finder's Consumer Sentiment Tracker
  • Consumer research

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