Monthly Updates

Western Australian real state final demand rose a seasonally adjusted 0.1% in Q4 2022, to be up 3.2% YoY. The Western Australian seasonally adjusted unemployment rate rose 0.1ppt to 3.6% in January. The CoreLogic Perth home value index fell 0.1% in February, to be up 2.4% YoY. The Western Australian wage price index rose 0.8% in Q4 2022, to be up 3.6% YoY.

Western Australia’s retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 4.7% in December but were up 5.9% YoY. The Western Australian unemployment rate was unchanged at 3.5% in December. The CoreLogic Perth home value index fell 0.3% in January but was up 2.7% from a year earlier. Perth CPI rose by 3.6% in Q4, driven by the impacts of unwinding of WA electricity credit, and was 8.3% up YoY.

Western Australia’s real state final demand increased 0.6% in Q3 2022 to be up 3.3% YoY. The Western Australian unemployment rate was steady at 3.5% in November. The CoreLogic Perth home value index rose 0.1% in December to be up 3.6% through the year. The value of Western Australian merchandise goods exports was A$69.3b in the three months to October.

Western Australia’s gross state product rose by 3.1% in 2021-22. Western Australian retail trade was unchanged in October, but rose 7.7% over the year. October also saw a 5.7% increase in dwelling approvals in Western Australia. According to CoreLogic, Perth house prices were flat in November, to be 3.9% up through the year.

The RBA board dialled back the pace of tightening, raising the cash rate by 25 basis points at both the October and November meetings following a series of 50 basis point increases. A peak in the cash rate of 3.85% is priced in for 2023, down from the 4.10% that was priced in at the end of September.

The RBA Board raised the cash rate target by 50 basis points to 2.35% at its September meeting. Western Australian real state final demand rose 0.1% in Q2 to be up 3.3% YoY. Employment rose 0.9k in Western Australia in August, with the unemployment rate falling to 3.1%. The Western Australian regional home value index increased by 0.3% in September, to be up 6.9% YoY.

Western Australian employment rose by 6.4k in July, while the unemployment rate declined to 3.2%. July also saw a 1.6% rise in Western Australian retail sales, which took the annual increase to 10.5%. Western Australia’s wage price index rose by 0.8% in Q2, to be 2.7% up through the year. The CoreLogic hedonic home value index declined by 0.2% in August but remained 4.9% higher than a year ago.