Australian household debt has hit a record 177 per cent of annual disposable income while housing valuations are “flashing red”, according to Barclay’s chief economist, Kieran Davies.
…Using ABS data on total Australian household liabilities and incomes, including small business debts that are excluded from similar RBA metrics, Barclays found that the ratio of household debt to disposable incomes has hit a record of 177 per cent.
“This is up from a recent low of 173 per cent and exceeds the previous high of 175 per cent reached in 2010,” Mr Davies noted.
The RBA still sees the ratio at 149%, down from its all time high of 153% in 2006.
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
