Australian new home sales in February up 4.6% from previous month on seasonally adjusted basis; detached-home sales up 6.9%, multi-unit sales down 6.8%: Housing Industry Assn.

Allison Oesterle

CAMPBELL, Australia , March 31, 2014 (press release) – Detached housing drove a strong result for new home sales in February 2014, said the Housing Industry Association, the voice of Australia’s residential building industry.

“Detached house sales jumped by 6.9 per cent in February, leading to an increase of 4.6 per cent in total seasonally adjusted new home sales. Sales of multi-units in February fell by 6.8 per cent,” said HIA Chief Economist, Dr Harley Dale.

“Both sales and building approvals for detached housing are signalling faster momentum ahead for this component of new dwelling construction, compared to what was evident in the first phase of the recovery,” noted Harley Dale.

“This signal suggests more balanced growth ahead in the composition of new home building and adds a further positive dimension to the recovery for many of Australia’s manufacturers and suppliers,” Harley Dale said.

“New home sales and building approvals are also pointing to a greater geographical breadth to the second phase of the new home building recovery. The initial phase was heavily dominated by two jurisdictions–New South Wales and Western Australia,” added Harley Dale.

In the month of February 2014, private detached house sales increased by 17.5 per cent in Queensland, 9.3 per cent in Western Australia, 8.8 per cent in Victoria, and by 1.9 per cent in New South Wales. Detached house sales fell by 10.7 per cent in South Australia.

Over the three months to February 2014 detached house sales increased by 32.5 per cent in South Australia despite the latest monthly fall. Quarterly growth was also evident in Queensland (19.8 per cent), NSW (6.2 per cent), and WA (5.1 per cent). Detached house sales fell by 10.3 per cent in Victoria due to a weak month in December last year. National multi-unit sales increased by 9.7 per cent over the quarter despite suffering a fall in the month of February.

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