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New home sales fell for the first time in five months during July, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA).
HIA chief economist Dr Harley Dale said while the fall was disappointing, the overall trend was more important than a single result.
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“There has been strong upward momentum to new home sales since the record lows plumbed in 2012. One monthly fall, while disappointing, does not really change the story,” he said.
Dr Dale said the next few months were now very important for the construction industry and the economy as a whole.
“The re-emergence of a sustained decline for new home sales over the second half of the year would obviously be a negative signal for residential construction and the wider Australian economy,” he said.
HIA's new home sales report showed that seasonally adjusted new home sales fell by 4.7 per cent in July. This was the first decline recorded since a fall of 5.3 per cent back in February.
“To date, what we have seen is a recovery from a very low base which takes sales volumes back to levels that are reasonable, but still well short of healthy,” said Dr Hale.
“Detached house sales are running well below long-term average levels in four out of five mainland states,” he added.
