ONLY CHARTS

Edition #32

1. Housing prices in New Zealand rose in January (seasonally adjusted), though monthly growth has recently been volatile. The smoother series for the volume of existing home sales declined in January

2. Housing prices rose in the major NZ regions in January and have risen gradually since early 2023

3. Real housing prices in New Zealand have been broadly flat

4. The increase in NZ housing prices comes despite a pick-up in new listings of homes for sale

5. Nominal domestic spending in New Zealand using credit and debit cards picked up in January after declining in December (same pattern as a year earlier). Growth in recent months has remained weak

6. Nominal spending in New Zealand on durables, apparel and a range of personal services has been trending lower

7. Food inflation in New Zealand in January was 2% in annualised 3m/3m terms. On the same basis, price rises for eating out appear to have levelled out at around 3%

8. US CPI inflation for January surprised to the upside and, even if some of the rise relates to seasonal adjustment difficulties, the trend has been gradually higher for several months

9. The pick-up in US services inflation - shown here on a comparable basis to Australia’s services CPI - is the last thing the RBA wants to see