Record high arrivals
As the construction cycle reaches its zenith there'll be plenty of talk about 'ghost towers' and a stock overhang.
But in Australia's case any such glut will only be a temporary affair with permanent and long-term arrivals surging to a record high +829,000 over the year to November 2018, a significant 6.6 per cent increase from a year earlier and the fastest rate of new arrivals the country has seen.
Plenty of Aussies head in the other direction, of course, but it seems likely that net overseas migration could be tracking at the highest level in about 4 or 5 years.
Since passing 25 million in August the estimated resident population of Australia has increased by about ¼ million.
Each of the most populous states saw record short arrivals and visitor spend in 2018 too, as also reflected in numbers reported by Tourism Research Australia, although visitor arrivals from China are now looking a tad peaky.
Since passing 25 million in August the estimated resident population of Australia has increased by about ¼ million.
Each of the most populous states saw record short arrivals and visitor spend in 2018 too, as also reflected in numbers reported by Tourism Research Australia, although visitor arrivals from China are now looking a tad peaky.
While only a small share of the overall pie, both Tasmania and the ACT have been successful in attracting a greater share of visitors to Australia.
Visits for the purposes of education also hit a record high at nearly 600,000.
The wrap
November tends to be a seasonally quiet month for both permanent and short-term arrivals, but in annual terms several records were broken for the month.
November tends to be a seasonally quiet month for both permanent and short-term arrivals, but in annual terms several records were broken for the month.
The busiest month of the year for both long term arrivals and international students is February, which is a couple of weeks away yet, while Lunar New Year also falls in the first week of February this year.
Therefore expect to see signs of rental market tightening ex-Sydney by the end of next calendar month.
On the other hand, such a powerful flow of new arrivals is unlikely to do much positive for the glacial recovery in wages growth.
It's been interesting to see real wages growth take off in Britain lately as immigration has eased, EU jobseekers have stayed away, and Polish workers returned to a resurgent domestic economy.
Therefore expect to see signs of rental market tightening ex-Sydney by the end of next calendar month.
On the other hand, such a powerful flow of new arrivals is unlikely to do much positive for the glacial recovery in wages growth.
It's been interesting to see real wages growth take off in Britain lately as immigration has eased, EU jobseekers have stayed away, and Polish workers returned to a resurgent domestic economy.
