What the number means
Five is the hand-off point. Below five means the signal is leaning negatively for the audience named on the gauge. Above five means it is leaning positively. The number is a summary, not a pass or fail result.
What we measure
- Market activity: whether housing activity is picking up or slowing.
- Buyer conditions: whether prices, rates, supply, and affordability give buyers more room.
- Repayment breathing room: whether rates, inflation, and jobs are creating more pressure.
- Rate pressure: whether current signals are putting upward or downward pressure on rates.
- Rental pressure: whether rents and demand are putting more pressure on households.
- New-home supply: whether building intentions are keeping up with demand.
How much should you trust it?
Every reading carries an evidence label. Official observations are stronger than a proxy assembled from related indicators. A placeholder means the required source is not connected yet and the reading should not be treated as publishable evidence.
The page also shows freshness and source dependencies. A recent number can still be weak if the underlying measure is indirect, and an older official number can still be useful context if its period is clearly shown.
What it cannot tell you
- It cannot tell you whether a lender will approve an application.
- It cannot predict mortgage rates, house prices, rent, returns, or the best time to act.
- It cannot replace personal budgeting, lender policy, or regulated financial advice.
- It does not describe every suburb, borrower, property, or lender equally well.
Current status
The gauges are currently an internal calibration surface. The remaining work includes replacing synthetic history, connecting missing regional and rental data, testing the weights against observed changes, and completing a compliance review before a public composite score is released.