Rise in new home sales can’t erase July’s drop
New home sales were up in August following a significant decline in July.
New home sales were up in August following a significant decline in July.The Housing Industry Association (HIA) New Home Sales report shows a partial recovery for sales in August. HIA chief economist Harley Dale said new home sales increased 6.1% for the month, falling a “rather hefty” 9.7% decline in July.
“Sales of new detached houses and multi-units didn’t rebound sufficiently in August to offset the decline in July. These latest New Home Sales figures therefore don’t paint a stellar picture of an August recovery, following as they do a big drop in July, but unless you’re a pessimist looking for a large black hole then this latest update is a long way from a downbeat story,” Dale said.
Detached house sales grew by 2.9% in August, following a 7.4% decline in July. While multi-unit sales grew by 17.8% in August, the result barely erased a 17.3% decline in July.
Dale argued that the nation was reaching the peak of the longest new building cycle in its history, and said that despite new home building being at “the mature stage” of its cycle, the outlook remained positive.
“Total new home sales expanded by 1.5% over the three months to July this year. That is a great result when the level of national new home building has already grown over four consecutive years,” Dale said.
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