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Finance and the property industry are at the forefront when it comes to Australian business conditions and confidence, according to NAB’s monthly business survey for September, 2013.
The major lender says ‘animal spirits’ have lifted again and overall business confidence has surged to its highest level in 3.5 years. While conditions remain ‘subdued’, NAB reports that the finance, business and property/construction industries showed the biggest gains.
“Business conditions were moderately up in September but, at -4 points, remained relatively low…but finance/ business/ property and recreation/personal services were the best performing sectors in the month,” reads the report.
“The lift in conditions was largely driven by improvements in finance/ business/ property and construction, which appear to have benefited from better sentiment in the housing market – especially accelerating house price increases.”
Housing demand and a generally positive outlook for the property market appears to be having an impact on other sectors as well, with related sectors like residential construction also experiencing improvements.
However, aside from recreation/personal services, all other industries reported negative activity readings in September, with conditions remaining especially weak in mining, manufacturing, transport/utilities, retail and wholesale.
