The new home market is on the road to recovery, with total approvals for new dwellings rising by 11.8% during November according to ABS figures.

Thanks to a strong gain in the high-density side of the home building market – apartments are up by 20.8% in November alone – towards the end of 2019, clear signs of improvement in the house market have materialised.

Master Builders’ chief economist, Shane Garrett, says prices have started to recover in several key markets, while employment growth across the economy is still fairly healthy.

“The past year has also seen three interest rate reductions from the RBA, something that has made it more attractive for people to participate in the housing market.”

“Last week saw the commencement of the federal government’s First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, a program which is opening the market up to thousands of First Home Buyers – in addition to providing more fuel for the market recovery.”

With commercial building activity reaching a new record high during 2019, its contrastingly, a part of the industry that is moving into reverse, today’s data suggests.

Although New South Wales saw a remarkable 52.8% gain in new dwellings approval in November 2019 compared with the previous month, several markets experienced a reduction in new home building approvals.

The largest was in Tasmania (-11.5%), followed by Western Australia (-6.5%), the Northern Territory (-2.6%) and Victoria (-1.8%).