New home sales climbed 11 per cent in October, as demand strengthened despite the end of the HomeBuilder grant, data from Housing Industry Association shows.
A total of 5590 new homes were sold, up from 5030 in September amid signs sales were stabilising following a volatile year, said HIA economist Angela Lillicrap.
Victoria led the charge with a 29.1 per cent monthly rise to 2093 sales, followed by Queensland with 11.1 per cent to 873.
In NSW, new home sales rose by 3.9 per cent to 1211, but they fell by 4 per cent in SA and by 2.8 per cent in WA.
During the three months ending October, sales across the country fell slightly by 0.2 per cent but remained consistent with the volume recorded in the previous three months, Ms Lillicrap said.
“The new home market is starting to find its new post-HomeBuilder equilibrium, following a rollercoaster of sales over the past 18 months with the adverse impact of COVID lockdowns and then the HomeBuilder stimulus,” she said.
“This new equilibrium is very strong. Sales since the end of HomeBuilder are the strongest they have been since the same period in 2017.”
The HIA New Home Sales report is a monthly survey of the largest volume home builders in the five largest states and is a leading indicator of future detached home construction.
Ms Lillicrap said the strong level of home building activity suggested that the current boom in house building will be sustained throughout 2022.
“Demand for new homes continues to exceed the capacity that the industry can deliver. This is evident in the volume of work approved but not yet commenced, which is at its highest level in over a decade,” she said.
“The ongoing demand for detached home building will continue to create strong employment opportunities throughout 2022 and into 2023.”
WA posted the strongest rebound compared with its pre-COVID levels with sales jumping by 45.8 per cent over the same period in 2019, boosted by the HomeBuilder and the state government Building Bonus grant.
Sales in NSW climbed by 42.3 per cent compared to the three months to October 2019, “although the state had a very weak uptake of HomeBuilder and did not experience the same boom relative to the other states”, Ms Lillicrap said.
“Instead, the market has been slowly trending upwards since reaching a low point in early 2020.”
Across the remaining states, sales were 2.1 per cent higher in Queensland compared to the same time in 2019. However, they declined by 1.3 per cent in SA and by 7.5 per cent in Victoria.
This article is from Australian Financial Review, please click the following link for the original article: https://www.afr.com/property/residential/new-home-sales-climb-11pc-amid-strong-demand-20211109-p597ay
