New home sales hit lowest level since 2013
Sales slid in both the detached housing and multi unit market during June according to the latest New Home Sales Report from the Housing industry Association.
According to the HIA, new home sales in Australia’s largest states hit their lowest level since October 2013.
Shane Garrett, HI senior economist said during June, new home sales declined by 6.9 percent compared with the previous month and were 11.9 percent lower than the same period last year.
“These results support HIA’s latest set of forecasts that new dwelling commencements are set to continue easing until late 2018," he said.
“The reduction in sales of both detached houses and multi-units during the month of June continues the trend underway since sales peaked in early 2015.
“The fall in sales needs to be considered against the backdrop of residential building coming off a record peak of activity in 2016. We project that residential building will still be operating at a historically high level."
The reduction in new home sales during June 2017 was made up of a 5.8 percent reduction in new detached house sales and a 10.7 percent fall in new multi-unit sales.
According to the HIA there were considerable differences in sales in June around the states with new detached house sales rising both in Victoria (+4.1 percent) and Western Australia (+21.1 percent). However, sales fell in New South Wales (-9.7 percent), Queensland (-29.3 percent) and South Australia (-23.7 percent) during the month.