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The number of total seasonally-adjusted new home sales increased by 3.8 per cent to 7,749 in September 2016, the second consecutive month of growth, new figures have shown.
According to a Housing Industry Association (HIA) survey of the country’s largest volume builders, September saw 5,995 detached houses and 1,754 units sold, a further increase on the 2.9 per cent rate of growth over the previous month.
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HIA senior economist Shane Garrett noted that within the month, growth was driven by detached house sales, which rose by 3.8 per cent, while sales of units “eased back by 0.8 per cent over the same period”.
In the month of September 2016, detached house sales fell in four out of the five states covered by the report, an exact reversal of the situation in August.
During September 2016, the largest fall in sales was recorded in South Australia (-23 per cent), followed by Western Australia (-17.2 per cent), NSW (-12.9 per cent) and Queensland (-2.6 per cent).
Victoria was the only state to record an increase in new home sales over this period, with 14 per cent growth in sales over the past year.
Mr Garrett commented: “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.
“This is particularly the case for multi-residential sales, which have eased by 6.2 per cent during the September 2016 quarter compared with the same period a year earlier,” he concluded.
[Related: Non-bank lender launches website to track construction projects]
