New homes market proving resilient in Australia with approvals and sales up
New home approvals increased by 1.1% in Australia in August and have now rise for seven months on a row, but are still below record highs of last year, the latest figures show. The data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show approvals increased in the Australian Capital Territory by 8.9%, in the Northern Territory by 8.3%, in Victoria by 1.5%, in Tasmania by 1.2%, in Queensland by 1%, in South Australia by 0.9%, in Western Australia by 0.8% and in New South Wales by 0.7%. In trend terms, approvals for private sector houses rose 0.9% in August with the biggest rise of 2% in Queensland, while in South Australia they increase by 1.4%, in Victoria by 1.1% and in Western Australia by 0.3% but fell in New South Wales by 0.3%. In seasonally adjusted terms, dwelling approvals increased by 0.4% in August driven by a rise in private dwellings excluding houses of 4.8% while private house approvals fell 0.6%. ‘Dwelling approvals have shown signs of strength in recent months, although are still below the record high in 2016,’ said Bill Becker, assistant director of construction statistics at the ABS. He added that approvals are some 6.5% below August 2016. Meanwhile, new home sales are also improving with the latest report from the Housing Industry Association (HIA) showing they increase by 9.1% in September, led by strong growth in Victoria and Western Australia although year on year they have continued to slow.
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