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ISCOVER
Staff Reporter
New home sales tumbled in February, following four consecutive months of growth.
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According to the latest Housing Industry Association (HIA) Home Sales Report, seasonally adjusted new home sales fell by 5.3 per cent in February, reflecting a 4.0 per cent reduction in detached house sales and an 11.0 per cent drop in multi-unit sales.
“These data are disappointing in the context of the growth in sales over previous months,” HIA senior economist Shane Garrett said.
“The broadly based decline in activity during February is a reminder of how delicate the nascent recovery in the housing industry really is.
"If we take a broader view of the situation, the overall direction of activity is still quite encouraging.
“New home sales are up strongly over the last three months in almost all states, in terms of both houses and multi-units.”
Nonetheless, Mr Garrett said February’s data emphasise how far housing market activity has fallen from the levels of just three years ago.
“The industry is struggling in the current economic environment and strong policy measures will be required to bring market activity back up to levels consistent with Australia’s long term requirements,” he said.
In the month of February 2013, detached house sales fell by 13.7 per cent in Victoria, 2.8 per cent in New South Sales and 6.7 per cent in South Australia.
