Decline of new home sales is modest: HIA

The Housing Industry Association’s New Home Sales Report recorded a lift in sales over August after weakness in July, which they say makes the decline of new home sales modest.

Housing Industry Association (HIA) economist Diwa Hopkins said that despite a downward trend in total seasonally adjusted new home sales, the 3.3% August increase has ensured that the decline is modest.

“Despite the August bounce, we still hold the view that new home sales reached their peak for the cycle back in April this year,” said Hopkins.

“The result for August was driven primarily by a strong lift in the volatile 'multi-units' sector where sales increased by 19.8%, taking this component of sales to its second highest level this cycle.”

Detached housing, however, increased by 0.5% after a decline over the previous months.

“As leading indicators of new home construction activity, both HIA New Home Sales and ABS Building Approvals are displaying a moderate downward trend,” she said.

“Current levels remain elevated by a historical standard, which is consistent with still healthy levels of new home building throughout 2014/15.”

Detached house sales increased by 11.1% in New South Wales over August, while jumping by 2% in Western Australia. Meanwhile, drops were seen in South Australia, Victoria and Queensland with 6.8%, 6.0% and 0.7% falls respectively.