New Zealand Consumer Confidence Falters

The ANZ-Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Index in New Zealand saw a slight decline to 97.6 in September, remaining below the neutral mark but still 17 points above its April low.

The share of households seeing it as a good time to buy a major household item rose by 5 points to -7, indicating that retail remains challenging. Two-year inflation expectations decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 4.5%, while house price expectations eased slightly to 2.4%.

The future conditions index dropped to 104.5 from 107.7, remaining above the neutral mark for the third straight month. However, economic expectations for the year ahead weakened from -12% to -16%, and the five-year outlook declined by 3 points to +10%.