New home sales up
New home sales have edged higher for the second consecutive month.
New home sales have edged higher for the second consecutive month.The Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) New Home Sales report has recorded a 3.8% increase in new home sales for September. The result follows on a 2.9% rise in August. August’s rise, however, came on the heels of a 9.7% drop in July.
HIA senior economist Shane Garrett said the growth was driven by sales of detached houses, which rose 3.8% for the month. Unit sales, meanwhile, fell 0.8%.
“However, the mix of available indicators suggests that new home building activity has now passed its peak and that the 2015/16 financial year will not be matched in terms of new dwelling starts,” Garrett said.
Garret said this trend was particularly evident in multi-unit residential sales, which fell 6.2% for the quarter compared to the same period last year.
The rise in new home sales was driven almost entirely by Victoria, where sales were up 14%. New home sales fell in the other four states monitored by the HIA, with the largest fall of 23% recorded in South Australia.
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