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New home building slumped by a massive 22 per cent in the year ending March but there is hope Australia may have reached the bottom of the construction downturn.
Only 30,949 new dwellings were started in the March quarter, the ABS said yesterday, a quarterly contraction of four per cent and a 22 per cent decline compared to the same time last year.
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Commencements of other dwellings including units and apartments, declined most substantially, down 34.9 per cent, year on year, while houses fell by 16.3 per cent.
Despite the bleak result HIA senior economist Ben Phillips said low interest rates, the first home buyer incentives and the federal government’s social housing investment should see an improvement over the coming quarters.
“Building approvals, housing finance and first home buyer grant numbers have already turned the corner and are growing strongly early in 2009 in response to government action.
“This good news will flow into starts over the remainder of 2009 and HIA forecasts a 15 per cent boost to starts by the December quarter,” he said.
