The Westpac Melbourne Institute Index of Consumer Sentiment increased by 4.7 per cent in September from 105.7 in August 2013 – the highest monthly gain the Index has recorded since December 2010.
An Index level of 100 indicates that the balance of confidence or optimism is weighted equally, while an Index of greater than 100 indicates that optimists outnumber pessimists.
Westpac's chief economist, Bill Evans, said "the components of the Index indicate that the improvement in confidence is dominated by rising optimism about prospects for the economy rather than how households feel about their own finances."
"Looking across the five sub-indexes: those tracking views on 'family finances vs a year ago' and 'family finances over the next 12 months' fell by 1.9 per cent and increased by 1.6 per cent respectively whereas those tracking views on 'economic conditions over the next 12 months' and 'economic conditions over the next five years' increased by 8.7 per cent and 7.1 per cent respectively," he explained.
The Index suggested that consumers are also feeling more confident about purchasing a home, with the sub-index tracking assessments of "whether now is [a] good time to buy a dwelling" jumping 6.5 per cent to reach its highest level since August 2009.
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