Received

Confidence levels among mortgage holders have sunk even lower ahead of the April cash rate decision.

Confidence among those paying off a mortgage fell 2.1 points to 70.5 points, putting the cohort 7.2 points below renters and those that own a home outright in ANZ and Roy Morgan's weekly index.

Overall, consumers have regained some confidence ahead of the Reserve Bank's lineball cash rate decision that has more economists leaning towards another hike but a pause firmly in contention.

The fastest round of policy tightening in decades has already added hundreds of dollars to mortgage repayments and another increase will ratchet up the pressure further.

Despite the modest 1.6 point uptick in overall consumer confidence to 78.2 points, ANZ and Roy Morgan's weekly index remains stubbornly in depressed territory and has returned a below-80 point result for the fifth week in a row.

Three of the five confidence subindices increased, with 'current economic conditions' up 4.6 points, 'future economic conditions' up three points and 'future financial conditions' lifting 3.1 points.

Despite the improvement, ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell said confidence in financial conditions, particularly current financial conditions, was now trending lower than it was during the start of the COVID outbreak.

The outlook for mortgage holders is bleak but higher interest rates are also making it harder for first time home owners to buy without falling into mortgage stress.

New Canstar analysis shows the average would-be solo home owner would need to earn $165,695 a year to buy a home without falling into mortgage stress.

The average annual before-tax income is $94,000.

The research explored how much buyers needed to earn to afford a house with a 20 per cent deposit but without contributing 30 per cent or more of their after-tax income toward repayments, which is how mortgage stress is defined.

With property prices already tracking back up despite the possibility of further rate rises, Canstar money expert Effie Zahos said home ownership would be even further out of reach for single-income earners.

"Even if there is a pause in April, it is expected the cash rate will be hiked up at least one more time during this cycle, meaning mortgage stress isn't going away anytime soon," she said.

© AAP 2023

Confidence among mortgage holders has continued to sink, but homeowners have been handed a temporary reprieve from further repayment rises with the Reserve Bank keeping interest rates on hold.

Consumer confidence for the cohort fell 2.1 points to 70.5 points, putting mortgage holders 7.2 points below renters and those who own a home outright in ANZ and Roy Morgan's weekly index.

The fastest round of policy tightening in decades has already added hundreds of dollars to mortgage repayments.

Overall, consumers regained some confidence ahead of the RBA's finely balanced decision on Tuesday to keep the cash rate unchanged at 3.6 per cent.

Economists were divided in the lead-up to the central bank's rates call, with another quarter percentage point hike firmly on the table.

Despite the pause, the RBA warned it might need to hike again if incoming data suggests more needed to be done to tame inflation.

Overall, there was a modest 1.6-point uptick in consumer confidence, but the monthly index remains stubbornly in depressed territory and has returned a below-80 point result for the fifth week in a row.

Three of the five confidence subindices rose, including "current economic conditions" lifting 4.6 points, "future economic conditions" lifting three points and "future financial conditions" lifting 3.1 points.

Despite the overall index improvement, ANZ senior economist Adelaide Timbrell said confidence in financial conditions, particularly current financial conditions, was trending lower than it had been during the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The outlook for mortgage holders is bleak but higher interest rates are also making it harder for first-time purchasers to buy without falling into mortgage stress.

New Canstar analysis shows the average would-be solo home owner needs to earn $165,695 a year to buy a home without falling into mortgage stress.

The average annual earnings for a full-time worker are $94,000.

The research explored how much buyers needed to earn to afford a house with a 20 per cent deposit but without contributing 30 per cent or more of their after-tax income towards repayments, which is how mortgage stress is defined.

Canstar money expert Effie Zahos said the return to higher home prices, combined with the possibility of more interest rate hikes, could push home ownership even further out of reach for single-income earners.

© AAP 2023

A plane carrying former US President Donald Trump has taken off from a Florida airport bound for New York City as he prepares to face charges stemming from an investigation into hush money paid to a porn star before the 2016 election.

With New York taking security precautions and the mayor insisting any would-be rabble-rousers behave, Trump was due to surrender at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office on Tuesday and will likely be fingerprinted prior to appearing before a judge for an arraignment where he will plead not guilty.

Trump, a Republican seeking to regain the presidency in 2024, is the first former US president to face criminal charges. Trump has hired Todd Blanche, a prominent white-collar criminal defence lawyer and a former federal prosecutor, to lead his defence, said two sources familiar with the matter.

The specific charges in the grand jury indictment have yet to be disclosed. Trump has said he is innocent, and he and his allies have portrayed the charges as politically motivated.

A motorcade of several vehicles transported Trump from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach to the airport in nearby West Palm Beach on Monday. Trump and members of his entourage climbed a set of stairs and entered his plane, painted in red, white and blue with TRUMP in big letters on the side and an image of the American flag on the tail.

Earlier Trump said on social media he would go to Trump Tower in Manhattan after arriving in New York, then would head to the courthouse on Tuesday morning.

Before his plane departed, small groups of Trump fans waited to show their support at the airport and on his route to get there.

"Our country needs him," said Cindy Falco, 65, of Boynton Beach, Florida. "He's pro-God, pro-family and pro-country."

Falco predicted exoneration, saying: "Nothing is going to stick to him."

Trump's campaign issued a fundraising email taking aim at the media's reporting on his indictment.

Remarks attributed to Trump in the email stated: "Our country has fallen. But I'm not giving up on America. We can and we will save our nation in 2024."

His campaign said Trump raised more than $4 million in the 24 hours following the news of his indictment.

A court official said the arraignment was planned for 2.15 pm local time on Tuesday. Trump then will return to Florida and deliver remarks from Mar-a-Lago on Tuesday evening, his office said.

© RAW 2023