Current at: 31 May 2006
The sale of new homes across Victoria has fallen in April, demonstrating the fragile nature of the current recovery in home building activity.
HIA’s New Home Sales figures released today show that the sale of new houses among Victoria’s largest builders and developers fell by 13.3 per cent in April to 2,174 dwellings.
Australia’s peak building industry body, HIA, said that today’s figures confirm that the industry is still some way off a sustained recovery, which will keep pressure on the existing housing stock for some time to come.
HIA’s Victoria Regional Director, Mr Graham Wolfe, said that when viewed in light of the latest increase in interest rates, new house sales are unlikely to bounce back in the coming months.
“With builders currently not building enough homes to satisfy demand, this wavering in sales volumes just before the rate rise is of concern,“ Mr Wolfe said.
“Earlier in the year the biggest fear among large volume builders was the fear of higher interest rates and their effect on housing sentiment,” he added.
“While it’s still early days, it’s fairly obvious that the latest rate hike at a time of near record low housing affordability will have a dampening influence on the supply of new housing stock which will keep considerable pressure on rental markets through to the end of the year,” Mr Wolfe said.
