Current at: 03 January 2007
New home sales increased in South Australia in November, runnign against the national trend which saw detached dwellings nationally fall to its lowest level since December 2000.
HIA’s New Homes Sales figures released today show that the sale of new homes in South Australia increased by 14.5% in November.
Australia’s peak building industry body, HIA, said that the November bounce was encouraging.
HIA’s Executive Director, South Australia , Mr Robert Harding, said that a bounce was long overdue in what had been a disappointing year to date for new homes sales.
“New homes sales have generally been in decline in South Australia this year and to see an increase in November, which occurred in the midts of interest rate rises, is a positive update for the housing sector”, Mr Harding said.
“One swallow does not make a summer but the sustained decline in new homes sales seen through much of this year has been arrested atleast for this month,” Mr Harding said.
“We also musn’t forget that despite weaker sales for much of 2006 to date the first seven months to July still yielded a higher level of sales than in the first seven months of 2005,” Mr Harding added.
“However, we have endured three interest rate increases so far this year, so any form of a sustained recovery coming through in the short term has probably been snuffed out before it began”.
HIA’s New Home Sales Survey is compiled from a sample of the largest 100 residential builders in Australia and is the most leading indicator on new housing activity. For the month of November, detached house sales fell by 28.6 per cent in Victoria and 14 per cent in New South Wales. Detached house sales increased by 14.5 per cent in South Australia, 12.3 per cent in Western Australia, and 4.3 per cent in Queensland.
Over the three months to November sales of detached houses were down in three out of five states – New South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia.
