New home buyers return in January
New home sales surged in January on the back of low interest rates, confident consumers and some companies leaving until the new year to sign up customers, according to the Housing Industry Association .
The Association’s New Home Sales survey for January shows a total of 717 new homes were sold across Australia over the month, a rise of eight percent over December 2001 and 14 percent higher than 12 months earlier.
HIA says that after a couple of slow months in the lead-up to Christmas, strong rebounds in both Victoria and Western Australia were enough to offset marginal falls in the remaining states.
Ruth Morschel, HIA’s executive director of public affairs and policy, says that fears over a rapid decline in home building activity after the phasing down of the First Home Owners grant are largely unfounded.
“There are plenty of signs that suggest activity will hold up strongly for some time to come,” she says. “Last week’s construction loan figures for December were excellent, and most large volume builders are reporting advance orders that will take them past the middle of the year.”
“While we do expect the leading indicators of building activity to come off the boil soon, the considerable amount of work in the pipeline and the extended completion time for first home buyer dwellings are two strong factors that will ensure actual activity ticks along for some time yet.”
The monthly New Homes Sales survey is compiled from a sample of the largest 100 residential builders in Australia.
Source: Building Products News.
21-Feb-2002