September is upon us, and spring is in the air. It’s time to shake off the winter cobwebs, get out into the garden or the great outdoors.
After endless gloomy forecasts, there was a glimmer of hope last month that the cost of living might be easing. Inflation fell in July to 4.9% from 5.4% in June, despite predictions by economists of a rise.
While housing prices are still rising, up by 7.3 per cent for the 12 months, and total dwelling approvals recorded a sharp decline in July.
China looms large as a threat to Australia’s economy. As our largest two-way trading partner, China’s worsening economic conditions are concerning for Australian investors although stronger demand from steel producers led to a small increase in iron ore prices. The ASX200 ended the month down, gains in financial stocks were offset by losses in mining and energy shares because of their dependency on China. The Australian dollar rebounded slightly based on improved confidence in the US.
Thankfully, the Reserve Bank has opted to leave the official cash rate unchanged for the third month in a row. This may provide an opportunity to better assess the impact of the recent aggressive rate hikes on both inflation and the economy.
Heather and I are now officially on holidays for the next 4 weeks, our bags are backed, and we’ll soon be on our way to Europe. Over the next few weeks we’ll be spending time in Germany, Czechia, Austria, and Spain (with Heather planning a quick dash across Belgium as well). Stacey will be manning the office while we’re away, but it won’t be normal work hours and she’ll be taking some time off over the school holidays so its best phone ahead before coming to the office.
While we know our taking a break may be inconvenient for some people, it has been 5 years since our last holiday so we’re sure you’ll understand. We’ll be back the second half of October.
