New home sales were slightly higher in Western Australia in April, but the level of sales during the past three months was 2.6 per cent lower than at the same time last year.
The Housing Industry Association said sales of detached houses in WA in April were up 0.9 per cent in March, following a 4.2 per cent rise in the previous month, the first increase in activity in 2015.
The HIA said the figures correlated with approvals activity, which has not been performing as strongly as in the previous 12 months.
Building activity in WA is likely to decrease by 15 per cent over 2015, following the peak of the building cycle which occurred last year, the HIA said.
Nationally it was a similar story in April, with sales of new homes up just 0.6 per cent on the previous month, the slowest growth recorded this year.
The HIA said most of the growth in new home sales across Australia was being driven by multi-unit developments, with sales up 57.7 per cent on the same time last year.
“The profile for new home sales in 2015 is consistent with a new home building cycle where further upward momentum resides largely in the multi-unit sector and where the eastern seaboard states are driving the further growth,” HIA chief economist Harley Dale said.
