Growing gaps in key areas a concern for the RBA: RBA chart pack
Amid uncertainty in the financial markets following the Royal Commission report, it was business as usual for the RBA, who kept the official cash rate at 1.5 percent for another month.
Their recently released chart pack, which details figures from the world economy to Australia's financial figures, yielded no further information, just further declines in some key areas.
Below are four charts which highlight the continued declines.
One of the most important aspect is the housing price to housing debt ratio, which has been tracking in the opposite, and negative, direction for months.
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The decline in house prices has led to consumer sentiment tracking toward the average, a figure we haven't seen since since late 2017.
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The recent dwelling approval figures, which showed an 8.4 percent decline in December nationwide, will have been a big factor in the RBA's decision to hold rates.
Its surprise December decline bring the seasonally adjusted annual decline to 22 percent.
The annual decline has been driven by apartment approvals, which have now gone back 38 percent over the 12 months to December 2018.
House approvals have declined 11 percent in that time period.
In trends terms, dwelling approvals have now fallen for 14 straight months, down 39 percent from the November 2017 peak.
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There continues to be a gap between household consumption and disposable income.
A household's disposable income hasn't been higher than its consumption since 2014.
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