New figures released by the Housing Industry Association today show a 2.7 per cent rise in the sale of new homes among Western Australia's largest builders in October, the first increase in four months.
New figures released by the Housing Industry Association today show a 2.7 per cent rise in the sale of new homes among Western Australia's largest builders in October, the first increase in four months.
New figures released by the Housing Industry Association today show a 2.7 per cent rise in the sale of new homes among Western Australia's largest builders in October, the first increase in four months.
Sales were down by 2 per cent over the three months to October and were 3 per cent lower compared with the three month period to October 2006.
HIA executive director WA Sheryl Chaffer said new home sales continued to look weak overall but could be finding a base.
"2007 has been a relatively weak year for a range of leading indicators of new home building, including new home sales," Ms Chaffer said.
"It may be that new home sales and building approvals are beginning to bottom out in a climate of very strong economic conditions overall in the west. Housing affordability remains very low and is a massive constraint on new entrants into the residential sector."
On a national level, new home sales data showed an 0.8 per cent rise in the sale of homes and units for October.
Detached home sales fell by 1.6 per cent to be down two per cent over the three months to October.
The volatile apartment sector, which jumped 25.3 per cent after falling 21.5 per cent in September, produced the slender overall rise even though apartment sales were down 10 per cent over the three months to October.
Victoria outperformed the rest of the nation by a wide margin with detached house sales in the state up 28 per cent - well in front of WA (2.7 per cent) and New South Wales (2.1 per cent).
Queensland and South Australia recorded a drop in sales, of 8.7 per cent and 5.5 per cent, respectively.
Ms Chaffer said the situation reinforced the importance of the new Federal Government's commitment to a national housing policy and highlighted the need to implement such a policy as soon as practicable.
The HIA earlier this month forecast that Australia's chronic housing shortage would continue until end of the decade.
Its national outlook showed a gap of almost 20,000 between the number of new dwellings being built this financial year and the "underlying requirement" for Australia's population.
HIA's New Home Sales Survey is compiled from a sample of the largest 100 residential builders in Australia and is the first leading indicator on new housing activity released each month.