![Slowing demand in Sydney and Melbourne weighed on national house prices.](/web/20170601060543im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/e/d/8/o/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.gwhx77.png/1496284309401.jpg)
'Perfect storm': House prices fall for first time in 18 months
Australian house prices fell in May for the first time in 18 months, in an early sign lending restrictions are starting to damp demand.
Australian house prices fell in May for the first time in 18 months, in an early sign lending restrictions are starting to damp demand.
Australian retail spending rose 1 per cent in April, beating market expectations of a modest rise.
Australia is experiencing a "spectacular housing bubble", which needs to be addressed with tougher regulatory measures, said Willem Buiter, Citigroup's chief economist.
The obvious major missing ingredient in Scott Morrison's 'backflip' budget was the lack of actual tax reform - but there is another glaring black hole. Turnbull's leadership remains weak as long as he's unable to convince his backbenchers that it's OK to come out from under the lump of coal now, that we can move on from Abbott's whatever-it-takes.
The apparent end of the housing boom looks set to hit the employment market, with analysts betting the number blue-collar jobs being advertised will soon drop off.
Sentiment has remained negative this year all the way through May for the first time since the depths of the GFC in 2009, leaving retailers reeling and investors bearish on the sector.
Tax commissioner Chris Jordan has announced an internal review of the Tax Office's policies and procedures following news that one of its highest ranking officers, Michael Cranston, allegedly abused his position as a public official.
The ATO and federal government want us to think its business as usual at the agency, but it's not.
There are signs of heat coming out of the housing market in Sydney and Melbourne.
Pressure is building for the lucky country.
Tell me again about the terrible burden of our progressive tax system, of how the wealthy pay too much tax.
In the past three budgets the Treasury has forecast a lift in economic growth and has been disappointed.
Employers caught up in an alleged fraud ring accused of stealing $165 million can contact the Australian Taxation Office to find out if they will be liable for tax that wasn't paid because it was being siphoned off by a criminal syndicate, the agency says.
The head of the Treasury has dismissed the impact of $6.2 billion budget levy on banks.
The severe pressure on retail stocks will ramp up again this week as retail sales come in the spotlight.
Before the budget Treasurer promised 'good debt' and 'bad debt'. What we got was more sensible.
The retirement funding gap is expected to grow to the equivalent of $400,000 per person by 2050, adjusted for wage inflation, which is larger than the size of the global economy. Australia is one of the six countries with the biggest pensions.
The World Bank's chief economist has been stripped of his management duties after researchers rebelled against his efforts to make them communicate more clearly, including curbs on the written use of the word "and".
Australia is set to stumble the moment it crosses the finish line.
I love Sydney and many other places around the country, but in my book you can only have one true home.
Avocado on toast could be in hot demand well into the next decade as young Aussies spend their cash on travel and restaurants instead of having babies.
Moody's Investors Service downgraded Hong Kong's local and foreign currency issuer ratings just hours after it cut China's credit ratings for the first time in nearly 30 years.
Random audits of employers would be a more proactive approach in chasing down billions of dollars of unpaid superannuation, often to the nation's most vulnerable workers, says Inspector-General of Taxation Ali Noroozi.
Treasury Secretary John Fraser has cleared the agency of being biased in its economic forecasts, arguing it has a similar track record in predicting the economy's future to other government or private sector experts.
Australia risks a future looking like "France and not Singapore", the boss of explosives group Orica has warned
The Trump administration sees the US economy achieving the rosiest of scenarios over the next decade.
The integrity of the Australian Taxation Office has taken a hit, acting ATO boss Andrew Mills says.
Scott Morrison's budget projections rely entirely on orthodox economic thinking about what drives wages. Unfortunately that orthodox thinking is demonstrably wrong.
Home prices across Australia's capital cities have again edged lower, in a sign the property boom has likely passed its peak.
For students of the politics of economics – my special subject – this clothes-pinching budget has been a feast. Oh no, it's "Labor-lite". Shocking! Actually, it's a budget that ticks all the boxes for Malcolm Turnbull and, by extension, his parliamentary followers – something their silent acquiescence suggests they realise.
An Australian cybersecurity startup is gaining international attention but claims Australian big business and governments are reluctant to support home-grown talent.
This new movement is a natural reaction to our fast-paced lives.
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