New Home Sales Rise

Sales of new homes nationally increased by 5.3% in February according to new data from the Housing Industry Association (HIA).

The HIA New Home Sales report is a monthly survey of the largest volume home builders, it shows the increase as in most of the large states.

HIA Chief Economist, Tim Reardon says given the weakness of January data, it is not too surprising to see an uptick in February.

While sales did increase, they still remain at low levels according to Reardon.

“The higher borrowing costs are compounding the elevated cost of land and construction, drying up the pipeline of new home building work despite the significant pent-up demand for housing,” he says.

New home sales increased by 8.4% in Queensland, 6.3% in Victoria and 5% in Western Australia. Sales dropped by 5.5% in South Australia during the month.

The new figures mean that quarterly sales are up in Western Australia (+39.9%), Queensland (+20.4%) and New South Wales (+16.0%).