New home sales rebounded by 4.2 per cent in Western Australia in March, the first time in 2015 where transactions were higher than the previous month, according to the Housing Industry Association.
But the HIA said despite the high note in the month of March, home sales for the first quarter of 2015 were down 6.4 per cent compared with the previous three months.
Housing approvals also fell, down 5.4 per cent during the March quarter, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures.
“New home building in WA is expected to weaken during 2015, with a reduction in activity likely to affect both the multi-unit and detached house segments of the market,” HIA economist Diwa Hopkins said.
Nationally, new home sales increased for a third consecutive month, rising by 4.4 per cent.
“The March result for total new home sales consists of an 11.3 per cent rise in multi-unit sales and a 2.6 per cent rise in detached house sales,” Ms Hopkins said.
“The monthly rise in both the detached and multi-unit segments of the market is an encouraging result. However, the broader trend is that growth over the past year has been driven by multi-unit sales, while detached house sales have tracked sideways.”
Private detached house sales in March were up by 5.9 per cent in Victoria and 4.2 per cent in New South Wales, while sales fell by 5.8 per cent in South Australia and by 2.3 per cent in Queensland.
