New home sales in Australia fall

Total new home sales in Australia fell for a second consecutive month in May 2016 but experts say it is cyclical downturn and nothing to worry about. Total seasonally adjusted new home sales declined by 4.4 per cent following a 4.7 per cent fall in April 2016. The sale of detached houses fell by 6.7 per cent but apartments were up by 4.9 per cent. The data also shows that detached house sales declined in three of the five mainland states with a fall of 11.5 per cent in New South Wales, a fall of 8.2 per cent in Victoria and a fall of 11 per cent in Queensland. But detached house sales increased by 3.8% in South Australia and by 5.4 per cent in Western Australia. The figures should not cause alarm, according to the Housing Industry Association. ‘There is a cyclical downturn ahead for new residential construction activity, as new home sales signal, but the early pull-back will be mild by historical standards,’ said HIA chief economist Harley Dale.