HOME construction times in Western Australia have fallen as a result of a fall-off in demand during the past 12-18 months. Housing Industry Association WA executive director Sheryl Chaffer said construction times had fallen from their peak 18 months ago and this was good news for those looking to build a new home. “The industry is telling us that construction times on standard houses have fallen from around 18 months and are now back to around seven months. Faster completion times have also meant that the backlog of work has reduced,” she said. At the height of the building boom in May 2006 there were 1,624 building approvals in Perth, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures, but this has now fallen to a sustainable 1,011 approvals in August 2007.