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One of the only industries to record double digit sales growth in the March 2024 quarter, real estate businesses have had a good start to the year.
The latest Xero Small Business Insights data for Australia shows the nation’s small businesses had a solid March quarter, with above average jobs and wages growth and sales rebounding in the first two months of the year after a soft December.
Healthcare led the pack in sales, recording a 13.5 per cent lift year-over-year, but real estate was a close second with a 10 per cent increase.
By comparison, sales growth averaged 3.5 per cent year-over-year across the board for the March quarter.
According to Louise Southall, Xero economist, the results were a welcome result after a challenging quarter to December 2023.
“The improvement from a tough end to last year is a welcome sign that small businesses started 2024 better off. The index dropped below 100 points in December last year, so it’s encouraging to see stronger growth in three critical success levers – jobs, wages and sales – during the first quarter of this year,” she said.
That being said, on a month-by-month basis, March returned a weaker result than the first two months of the year. Sales in March fell 2.4 per cent year-over-year. But Southall noted that it shouldn’t be too much cause for concern, as March’s performance this year was likely impacted by both the earlier timing of the Good Friday public holiday, when most businesses were closed, and the fact that March 2023 was an unusually robust month for sales.
The January and February results, which average an increase of 6.5 per cent year-over-year, alongside the solid jobs and wages outcomes in March, are likely to be better indications of the current performance of small businesses, according to the report.
Looking at the states, the ACT had the largest sales gains in January and February, averaging 8.6 per cent year-over-year, followed by Western Australia, which experienced an 8.1 per cent lift. The smallest gains were in Tasmania, which still recorded an increase of 4.3 per cent.
Wages growth for small businesses averaged 3.2 per cent year-over-year in the March quarter, after a 3 per cent year-over-year rise in the December quarter. This means wages growth is now just above the long-term average of 3 per cent year-over-year. But Xero noted that this pace of growth is still below inflation, meaning real wages for small business staff are not yet rising.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Juliet Helmke
Based in Sydney, Juliet Helmke has a broad range of reporting and editorial experience across the areas of business, technology, entertainment and the arts. She was formerly Senior Editor at The New York Observer.
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