Spending has grown strongly in the resource-rich states in recent years, primarily reflecting very high levels of investment in the mining industry. However, the pace of growth in state production and developments in other economic indicators have been more uniform across the states. This...

Foreign investors’ demand for commercial buildings in Australia has been strong in the past few years, as captured by their rising share of transaction values. Foreigners have generally purchased established properties, although there has also been some interest in developing new...

Australian households’ appetite for risk appears to have declined in recent years with households having actively shifted their portfolios away from riskier financial assets. The change in the composition of financial assets has been seen across most age and income groups. The shift in...

The Australian bond market functioned well during the financial crisis. Changes in investor sentiment and issuer behaviour led to a slowing in issuance and an increase in the average credit quality of new issuance. While the average bond term shortened and spreads widened, these trends have...

Bonds are an important source of funding for Australian banks. While the financial crisis greatly affected capital markets, overall Australian banks retained good access to the bond market, with a sharp increase in the volume of bonds issued over the past couple of years. This reflected their...

Australian financial and non-financial companies tap capital markets – particularly equity and bond markets – to source funds from households, foreign investors and domestic institutional investors. Foreign investors supply around half of these funds, with institutional investors...

Spending on durable goods tends to be more cyclical than spending on non-durable goods and services as it can be more readily postponed in times of economic weakness. During the recent global economic slowdown, the decline in durable goods spending was a key transmission mechanism of the...