A new report by the Housing Industry Association (HIA) reveals that new
home sales continued to rise in November 2014 following an increase in the
previous month. The HIA New Home Sales Report is a survey of Australia’s
largest volume builders.
HIA Chief Economist Harley Dale explained that renewed upward momentum
in the multi-unit segment drove growth in overall new home sales in late 2014,
a trend unlikely to be reversed in December. Total seasonally adjusted new home
sales increased by 2.2 per cent in November last year following a lift of 3.0
per cent the previous month.
According to Harley Dale, sales of multi-units surged in both October
and November to reach their highest level since September 2003 while detached
house sales dipped by 1.5 per cent in November 2014. Though both detached house
and multi-unit segments saw upward momentum in 2013/14, momentum of late has
been concentrated on multi-units.
He concluded that a focus on housing policy reform would greatly assist
in rebalancing the table, providing a further burst of growth in detached house
construction.
Detached house sales for November 2014 show an increase
of 4.0 per cent in Victoria, 16.0 per cent in Queensland, and 0.3 per cent in
South Australia, but registering falls in New South Wales (-5.6 per cent) and
Western Australia (-10.6 per cent, following a +24.8 per cent result in
October).
