Travel is still on the table, despite cost of living pressures
Australians would rather cut back on the essentials than shelve holiday plans, new report finds
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Australians are prioritising spending on travel and accommodation despite cost of living pressures, a new report from CommBank iQ has just found.
The Cost of Living Insights Report reveals that Australians are prepared to cut back on everyday expenditure to direct their available funds to experiences that they missed out on during COVID.
Author of the report and head of innovation and analytics at CommBank iQ, Wade Tubman, said the results were a little surprising.
“Putting our expenditure under the microscope shows we’re responding to the increased cost of living in diverse and sometimes unexpected ways” Mr Tubman said.
“What we’re seeing is a continued COVID rebound effect, with consumers catching up on the experiences that they missed out on during the pandemic.
“It seems counter-intuitive that at a time of increased cost of living pressures, consumers are choosing to boost their discretionary spending.”
CommBank iQ is a joint venture between Commonwealth Bank of Australia and data science and artificial intelligence company Quantium, which uses aggregated and de-identified payments data from seven million CBA customers – Australia’s largest consumer payments data set – to track spending trends.
The report found cost of living playing out differently across age groups, with spending among Australians over the age of 35 almost double that of those under that age. Cost of living pressures were also most acutely felt by renters, rather than homeowners and mortgage holders.
“Our Cost of Living Pressure Indicator shows renters are experiencing more pressure than homeowners in general,” Mr Tubman said. “Despite the increased financial burden on some mortgage holders, a little under half of all homeowners are mortgage-free and a third of those with a mortgage have savings buffers of two years or more.”
Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
After appeals to cashed-up Australians to stop spending, there’s a little inflationary relief in sight
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The rate of inflation in Australia has fallen to 4.9 percent, according to data from the Consumer Price Index. Inflation is down from 5.6 percent in September and a peak of 8.4 percent in December 2022.
The housing, transport and food and non-alcoholic beverages sectors were the strongest contributors to the October increase, which is consistent with trends shown in ABS data from September.
“CPI inflation is often impacted by items with volatile price changes like Automotive fuel, Fruit and vegetables, and Holiday travel,” said acting head of price statistics at the ABS, Leigh Merrington. “It can be helpful to exclude these items from the headline CPI to provide a view of underlying inflation.”
Food and non-alcoholic beverages rose from 4.7 percent in September to 5.3 percent in the 12 months to October, driven by the rising prices of melons and bananas.
In good news for would-be home builders, new dwelling prices rose 4.7 percent, the lowest annual rise since August 2021, as a result of easing material supply conditions.
While the ABS noted that electricity prices rose 10.1 percent in the year to October, Mr Merrington said it could have been worse, if not for the introduction of the Energy Bill Relief Fund.
“Electricity prices have risen 8.4 per cent since June 2023. Excluding the rebates, Electricity prices would have increased 18.8 per cent over this period,” Mr Merrington said.
The inflation figures come ahead of the final meeting for the year of the RBA Board next Tuesday. The board raised the cash rate by 25 basis points at the November meeting following an increase in the rate of inflation in September.
Consumers are going to gravitate toward applications powered by the buzzy new technology, analyst Michael Wolf predicts
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
