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The state of the economy at the street level

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I know commercial has been struggling for some time, what has shocked me though is in the increase in rental available in just the last few weeks, seems to me the sign printers are the only ones making the money at the moment..
 
matty77 said:
I know commercial has been struggling for some time, what has shocked me though is in the increase in rental available in just the last few weeks, seems to me the sign printers are the only ones making the money at the moment..
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Residential rental listings (availability) are surging in major cities sending asking rents lower as more tenants leave the market amid the virus-induced shutdown,
Domain's latest figures showed rental listings rose 7 per cent nationally over the year to April 19.

In Sydney, listings jumped 15 per cent while Melbourne notched up a 14 per cent rise.

Hobart, which enjoyed the tightest rental market in the country for a couple of years, racked up the largest increase in listings — a whopping 41 per cent
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Dona Ferentes said:
Residential rental listings (availability) are surging in major cities sending asking rents lower as more tenants leave the market amid the virus-induced shutdown,
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Hobart was interesting 40%, must be all the holiday homes, that Melbourne and Sydney people don't want to use for the foreseable future.:D
 
At the street level I am only seeing things get worse. 80% of the shops in my nearest mall are closed. As we know all the clubs, pubs and restaurants are closed. Not to mention anything travel related is virtually zero too. Literally 10's of thousands unemployed. On 2 occasions I have seen long queues outside my local Centerlink Office snaking around up to the next block. This is something I have never seen before.

But on the other hand there are a lot of people with a lot of money. Right now Gold is $2,700 AUD an oz. It is at it's highest price ever and as soon as a coin or bar is manufactured it is sold instantly in the bullion shops. People are buying gold and silver like there is no tomorrow. Bullion shops are nearly completely sold out of gold and silver. So whilst a lot of people are suffering there still seems to be a lot of money out there. Two very different worlds at the street level.
 
Bill M said:
At the street level I am only seeing things get worse. 80% of the shops in my nearest mall are closed. As we know all the clubs, pubs and restaurants are closed. Not to mention anything travel related is virtually zero too. Literally 10's of thousands unemployed. On 2 occasions I have seen long queues outside my local Centerlink Office snaking around up to the next block. This is something I have never seen before.

But on the other hand there are a lot of people with a lot of money. Right now Gold is $2,700 AUD an oz. It is at it's highest price ever and as soon as a coin or bar is manufactured it is sold instantly in the bullion shops. People are buying gold and silver like there is no tomorrow. Bullion shops are nearly completely sold out of gold and silver. So whilst a lot of people are suffering there still seems to be a lot of money out there. Two very different worlds at the street level.
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Agreed. Two different worlds. In our household my wife is a nurse, and I'm a financial adviser. Zero interruption to our incomes, and we are very thankful (other than my wife being at high risk of bringing the virus home from work). On the other hand, some stories in my network:

* He was a Virgin Australia pilot on $160k pa and wife was stay at home. They had little savings and now have no income, except maybe JobKeeper/Seeker.
* Couple who both work full time in theatre production. Income disappeared over night with little prospect of coming back anytime soon.
* Two other friends, one is a physio the other a nutritionist, both lost their jobs.
* Another contact works for Cricket Australia, quite senior. Had to take a temporary (hopefully) 80% pay cut.

It's a lottery.
 
I'm finishing up my contract soon and starting a new role in a couple of weeks. So today I decided I should go to the city and retrieve some stuff from my office. FWIW, demand for tech workers still seems high and I didn't have any trouble landing a permanent role.

I'd estimate on the train going in there was about 30 people on the platform, only about 5 wearing masks.

The city itself was surprisingly busy, a fair few people milling around. Lots and lots of construction workers working on the new Martin Place Tower for Macquarie were out eating their "lunch" at 10-10:30AM. People getting coffees from hole in the wall cafes around Martin Place.

The main thing that was missing was all the tech workers that are normally milling around.

I visited my bullion dealer while I was in there and sold some gold as I'm a bit overweight due to the run up in price. One other guy was in buying an ounce. Didn't seem busier than normal.
 
I had a friend that went down the same path about 14 years ago due to a decision in Canberra.
At that point we were all supposed to be better off and/or richer due to being debt free.
But that doesn't always translate to food on the table.
 
I feel bad posting this after the above stories

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04...mpact-on-households-amid-coronavirus/12195156

The Federal Government's stimulus payments are having a "profound impact" on Australia's households, with a surge in unemployment payments more than offsetting the fall in income from job losses.

According to the Commonwealth Bank, since mid-March there has been a 50 per cent increase in the number of CBA bank accounts receiving fortnightly Jobseeker payments [previously called Newstart].

The Government's first $750 emergency cash payment has also been paid to 6.5 million Australians.

According to CBA economist Gareth Aird, the net result has seen the total amount of government benefits paid rise by 60 per cent in the past month — which has more than offset the fall in income from job losses.
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I am keeping an eye on carparks at my local two supermarket centres. Some 'street level' metrics appear. Early on in lockdown wrt car parking there far less and well spaced less concentrated at the entrance. Later More cars but still well spread. As time goes by the car numbers haven't increased so much but the concentration of vehicles at the entrance increased. Now car numbers have also increased. Car park is never full (still only 1/4 at best). Before all this the car parks were rarely empty as the areas has many small street shops, restaurants and a pub and a bar. (Leederville Mt Hawthorn WA)
 
jbocker said:
I am keeping an eye on carparks at my local two supermarket centres. Some 'street level' metrics appear. Early on in lockdown wrt car parking there far less and well spaced less concentrated at the entrance. Later More cars but still well spread. As time goes by the car numbers haven't increased so much but the concentration of vehicles at the entrance increased. Now car numbers have also increased. Car park is never full (still only 1/4 at best). Before all this the car parks were rarely empty as the areas has many small street shops, restaurants and a pub and a bar. (Leederville Mt Hawthorn WA)
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Interesting. In my area of outer Western Brisbane/Ipswich, local supermarket carparks are pretty much at pre covid level and road traffic seems almost normal. That said, most of the people I talk to are *well down on business turnover.

My biggest account which is a Riding for Disabled establishement is down 80%

Inner city and inner burbs still like a ghost town too.

FWIW
 
Media worth consuming - April 2020
A monthly look at dozens of local and global media articles that often do not receive mainstream coverage in Australia.

"Links to dozens of global media articles that do not receive mainstream coverage in Australia. It's sceptical, fun and revealing, often challenging consensus and accepted wisdom."

https://www.firstlinks.com.au/media-worth-consuming-april-2020

Written by Jonathan Rochford of Narrow Road Capital. Comments and criticisms are welcome.

(A good way to spend a rainy day)
 
wayneL said:
Interesting. In my area of outer Western Brisbane/Ipswich, local supermarket carparks are pretty much at pre covid level and road traffic seems almost normal. That said, most of the people I talk to are *well down on business turnover.

My biggest account which is a Riding for Disabled establishement is down 80%

Inner city and inner burbs still like a ghost town too.

FWIW
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Good intel @wayneL . I usually take my boganometer out on days like Sat. May 2nd, loosening of lockdown day in Queensland for the southerners to check on flow through JBH, HVN, WOW, COL and WES Officeworks, Kmart and Bunnings.

They have been very quiet really as a consumer group, said bogans, missing Capt. Cooks anniversary while they contract social diseases via Facebook. As have their professional neighbours weighed down by their negative gearing and "rentals". The carparks are full but they weren't even buying pre-Coronavirus.

I did notice that condoms are not selling, as is usual in a plague, as the population normally increases.

I'll give it a miss as I predict folk will be in the open air rather than shopping centres getting mugged.

gg
 
jbocker said:
That is not nice. Redraw was a nice back up facility to have for tight times. ME obviously thinks so too.
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The banks actually changed the rules about 18months or more ago now so that if you fall behind in your mortgage they can now access your offset account. Previously they weren’t allowed to touch it. This move by ME is not going to be the first. I can see a lot of people suddenly without any money. I have already quarantined some living expenses in a separate bank
 

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