One in seven Aussies plan to spend up to $2000 this Easter

By

Seven out of 10 hop to shop this Easter, finfluencers on alert, and home sellers pocket $270,000.

Here are five things you may have missed this week.

Aussies hop to it for Easter spending

where to buy chocolate bilby easter bilbies

Three-quarters (73%) of Australians have their spending eggs lined up in a row this Easter.

Research by comparison site Savvy shows 58% of us will spend around $500. One in four (23%) are budgeting to spend between $500-$1000.

One in seven have plans to fork out up to $2000 over Easter.

Savvy's personal finance expert, Bill Tsouvalas says, "Money is burning a hole in Aussies' pockets. Our survey found people have savings they are eager to spend."

The Easter Bunny (or Bilby) may be disappointed to learn that Easter eggs aren't at the top of our shopping lists.

Travel, groceries, dining out, and alcohol head the list of planned purchases. Just $45, on average, is being budgeted for Easter eggs.

Finfluencers on alert

Make a video about personal finance. Add in some tips. Post it online.

It can seem like an easy way to make money.

But so-called 'finfluencers' - online personalities and social media groups that pitch money advice at everyday Australians, are coming under the watchful eye of investment regulator ASIC.

The Financial Planning Association of Australia (FPA) welcomes ASIC's steps to address the risks posed by finfluencers.

FPA chief executive officer, Sarah Abood, says the FPA has long been concerned about an apparent two-tier approach to the regulation of financial advice, where social influencers operating online seem to be treated differently to financial planners.

"Financial planners are subject to a high degree of oversight and regulation, and consumers can have confidence in the advice they receive from a professionally qualified and registered financial planner," says Abood.

"None of these protections apply where finfluencers are concerned.

"They are not legally able to give personal or general advice on financial products, and anyone acting on a recommendation from this source is essentially on their own if things go wrong."

To find out if the person you're watching or listening to is registered to give financial advice, type their name into the financial advice register on the MoneySmart website.

Home sellers pocket $270,000

CoreLogic's latest Pain and Gain report shows 99,000 homes were re-sold nationally in the September quarter of 2021 - and 92.4% of these homeowners made a profit, the highest proportion since May 2011.

The median profit on resale was a handy $270,000.

Despite extended lockdowns, Victoria trumped the market for profit-making re-sales.

In Melbourne, 99.5% of houses re-sold in the September quarter turned a profit for their owners. In regional Victoria, 99.1% of houses re-sold delivered a profit.

However, not everyone made a buck on bricks and mortar.

The biggest incidence of loss-making sales occurred in the Darwin apartment market, where over half of unit re-sales made a nominal loss.

The median loss on re-sales nationally was $37,000.

One in five seniors want to return to work

Maybe retirement isn't everything we could hope for.

Research by National Seniors Australia has revealed one in five (20%) age pensioners are keen to head back to the coal face. A further 16% have already bandied back to work.

Six out of 10 pensioners say money is the main motivation for seeking paid work. But it's not the only reason.

A desire to stay active (15%), contribute to society 12%), and socialise (11%) are other leading motivators to return to the labour force.

For seniors struggling to make ends meet on the pension, returning to work is a double-edged sword.

A single pensioner can earn up to $180 per fortnight ($320 for couples), before pension payments are scaled back by as much as 50 cents for every extra dollar earned.

Professor John McCallum, National Seniors' CEO and Director of Research, describes this situation as "crazy".

He adds, "With the aged care system needing a much larger workforce and a national workforce crisis, we must let pensioners work."

Houses eclipse units over long term

Aussie Home Loans has released its Progress Report looking at how property values have fared over the last 30 years.

It found house values have jumped 414.6% since the 1990s, compared to 293.1% gains for apartments.

But price growth hasn't always been a steady upswing. The past three decades have seen seven periods of sustained growth in values nationally, and seven periods of decline.

The 30-year annualised growth was 5.6% across the combined capitals, and 4.5% across the combined regional markets.

What the report does show is just how eye-wateringly cheap homes used to be by today's standards.

The median home value nationally was $114,034 back in the 90s. Today, it's more than $700,000.

Brad Cramb, CEO of Distribution, Lendi Group (parent company of Aussie), says, "With potential interest rate rises on the horizon and ongoing debate around where the housing market is headed, this can be a stressful time for aspiring homebuyers. What is clear from the analysis is that property is a long game."

Get stories like this in our newsletters.

Related Stories

A former Chartered Accountant, Nicola Field has been a regular contributor to Money for 20 years, and writes on personal finance issues for some of Australia's largest financial institutions. She is the author of Investing in Your Child's Future and Baby or Bust, and has collaborated with Paul Clitheroe on a variety of projects including radio scripts, newspaper columns, and several books.