The latest residential land update signals that new housing starts should begin to recover modestly by early 2013.
“The June 2012 quarter saw residential land sales rise by 23.3 per cent to be up by 29.7 per cent when compared to the same period in 2011,” said HIA Chief Economist, Harley Dale.
“Growth is from a low base and the result is exaggerated by a policy-induced pull-forward in land sales in New South Wales and Victoria. Nevertheless, land sales did rise in all six state capitals and in a majority of regional areas and that is an encouraging result.”
“Residential land sales signal the prospect of a turnaround in new housing starts from the December 2012/March 2013 quarters, which has been HIA’s long-held forecast.”
“The recovery will be modest and the onus is on all levels of government to rectify the policy failures which considerably constrain new residential construction activity,” added Harley Dale. “Progress on this front is generally too slow or non-existent, yet you’d hope by now that governments are attune to the fact that interest rate cuts aren’t as effective as they were and it is government action that needs to be the leader not the follower.”
According to RP Data’s research director Tim Lawless, the improvements in vacant land markets have been consistent enough to call a trend, however it will be important to see how changes in State Government policy flow through to the market over coming quarters.
“These results represent the third consecutive quarter where land sales have shown an improvement – this further highlights that consumer sentiment towards housing is improving.”
“There were 15,255 vacant land sales over the June quarter this year, the highest number of sales recorded since the June quarter of 2010. Despite the uplift, land sales remained around 16 per cent below the decade average, highlighting that the improved conditions are coming from a low position.”
“While the number of land sales has increased across every state capital over the June quarter, the signifiant rise recorded in June can largely be attributed to an increase in activity across New South Wales where land sales were up 51 per cent, and in Victoria which recorded a 47 per cent surge in sales.”
“Changes in State Government policies have clearly drawn buyer demand forward, confirming just how sensitive the market can be to Government intervention. It will be interesting to see if the improved market conditions can be sustained over the September quarter, where after that time, some of the concessions will no longer be available,” Mr Lawless said.
In the June 2012 quarter the weighted median residential land value in Australia eased by 0.3 per cent to $192,828. This value is 1.7 per cent higher when compared to the same period in 2011. The median value for capital cities eased by 0.6 per cent in the June 2012 quarter to $218,197, 3.1 per cent higher than in the June 2011 quarter. The median value for Regional Australia was $154,080. This represents a bare 0.1 per cent tick up over the June 2012 quarter, and a 1.3 per cent reduction compared with the same period in 2011.
New home sales posted a second consecutive monthly improvement in November 2012 driven by an encouraging lift in sales of detached houses, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA).
The HIA New Home Sales report, a survey of Australia's largest volume builders, showed a 4.7% lift in new home sales in November 2012.
It was underpinned by an increase of 7.7% in sales of detached houses following a run of five consecutive monthly declines.
However multi-unit sales declined by 6.9% after a spike in October.
In November, the number of seasonally adjusted new detached house sales increased by 15.8% in New South Wales, 15.6% in Victoria and 6.7% in South Australia.
Detached house sales were only just down by 0.1% in Queensland but declined by 6.8% in Western Australia.
“Against the back drop of late 2012 when we had lower borrowing rates combining with a number of states encouraging new home building through amendments to first home buyer assistance, it is promising to see new home sales moving in the right direction,” said HIA economist, Geordan Murray.
“The positive result in November was driven by the detached house segment of the market which experienced a trend decline in sales throughout most of 2012.
"This result should provide some welcome respite,” said Geordan Murray.
“While the increase in the month of November is encouraging, new home sales remain at quite low levels.
"If we consider the three months to November, the volume of sales is 15.7% lower than in the same period in 2011.
"This overall profile shows that we have a long way to go before we could consider sales volumes to be at satisfactory levels,” Geordan Murray said.
New home sales increased in December last year, marking the third consecutive monthly rise, said the Housing Industry Association, the voice of Australia’s residential building industry.
The HIA New Home Sales report, a survey of Australia's largest volume builders, showed that total seasonally adjusted new home sales increased by 6.2 per cent in December 2012. New home sales increased by 3.3 per cent over the December 2012 quarter, but were still 12.7 per cent lower than the level of sales in the same quarter in 2011.
“The promising headline rise last December was driven by both detached house and multi-unit sales,” said HIA Economist, Geordan Murray. “Furthermore, if we look at the under-performing market for 2012 - detached houses - the December improvement was broad-based as sales increased in all but one of the surveyed states.”
“However, the overall result for 2012 leaves plenty of room for improvement. Detached house sales were weak throughout the year and compared with 2011 were down by 22.7 per cent,” said Geordan Murray. “On the other hand, multi-units sales were the star performer of 2012. They recovered from the record lows endured in 2011 and increased by 24.1 per cent over 2012.”
“It is hoped that further signs of an impending new home building recovery emerge in coming months. However, it remains the case that lower interest rates alone will not deliver a recovery of the magnitude required by Australia’s economy and population,” said Geordan Murray.
In the month of December 2012 detached house sales increased by 7.1 per cent in New South Wales, 6.0 per cent in Victoria, 3.8 per cent in Queensland, and 12.2 per cent in Western Australia. Sales eased by 1.8 per cent in South Australia, but that followed three consecutive rises. Over the December 2012 quarter detached house sales increased in New South Wales (+14.4 per cent), South Australia (+9.3 per cent), and Western Australia (+2.5 per cent). Sales fell over the December quarter last year in Victoria (- 8.4 per cent) and Queensland (-5.5 per cent).
Sales of new homes increased in December for the third month in a row, building on hopes of a modest recovery in Australia’s housing sector.
The positive result follows hard on the heels of recent data showing house prices across Australia rose 2.1 per in 2012, reversing much of the steep declines seen the year before.
Fairfax-owned Australian Property Monitors released figures today showing solid growth in the December quarter of 1.9 per cent drove a rebound at the end of the year.
Some of those gains were spurred by new home sales in December which rose a seasonally-adjusted 6.2 per cent, the latest Housing Industry Association data shows.
Over the December quarter sales were up by 3.3 per cent, the HIA said.
“The promising headline rise last December was driven by both detached house and multi-unit sales,” HIA economist Geordan Murray said in a statement.
Compared with 2011, detached house sales were weak through much of 2012, down by 22.7 per cent over the year, Mr Murray said.
But while initially underperforming, in December they bounced back.
In the last three months of the year detached house sales were up in New South Wales (+14.4 per cent), South Australia (+9.3 per cent) and Western Australia (+2.5 per cent).
They fell, however, in Victoria (- 8.4 per cent) and Queensland (-5.5 per cent).
New home sales hit the right note for the new year, posting a fourth consecutive rise in January, said the Housing Industry Association, the voice of Australia’s home building industry.
The HIA New Home Sales report, a survey of Australia’s largest volume builders, showed that total seasonally adjusted new home sales increased by 4.2 per cent in January 2013, reflecting a 4.0 per cent increase in detached house sales and a 4.9 per cent lift in multi-unit sales.
“It is a promising update to see the momentum of late 2012 carrying into the new year,” said HIA Chief Economist, Harley Dale. “Over the three months to January this year new home sales increased by 10.0 per cent, although sales volumes were still 6.4 per cent lower compared to the same period a year earlier.”
“Sales of new detached houses have now increased over three consecutive months, a crucial improvement given the considerable weakness experienced through the majority of last year,” said Harley Dale.
“Even now, the volume of detached house sales is not much more than half the long term average. Consequently there is a long way to go to see evidence that new home building will reach the levels the economy requires as the contribution from resources-related investment wanes.”
In the month of January 2013 detached house sales increased by 9.1 per cent in Victoria, 10.6 per cent in South Australia, and 7.4 per cent in Western Australia. Sales fell by 1.3 per cent in New South Wales and were down by 6.0 per cent in Queensland. Over the three months to January 2013 detached house sales increased by 23.7 per cent in New South Wales, 10.8 per cent in Victoria, 13.2 per cent in South Australia, and 7.6 per cent in Western Australia. Detached house sales fell by 3.1 per cent over this three month period in Queensland.
Published 11:00 AM, 28 Feb 2013 Last update 11:56 AM, 28 Feb 2013
New home sales rose for the fourth consecutive month in January, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA).
The HIA new home sales report showed Australian home sales rose 4.2 per cent in the month, seasonally adjusted, following a 6.2 per cent lift in December.
The rise came on the back of a four per cent increase in detached house sales and a 4.9 per cent lift in multi-unit sales.
HIA chief economist Harley Dale said it was a promising sign to see the momentum of late 2012 carrying into the new year.
“Sales of new detached houses have now increased over three consecutive months, a crucial improvement given the considerable weakness experienced through the majority of last year,” he said.
In the three months to the end of January, new home sales increased by ten per cent, HIA said.
Despite the rise, sales volumes are still 6.4 per cent lower compared to the same period last year.
Over the three months to January, detached house sales increased by 23.7 per cent in New South Wales, 13.2 per cent in South Australia, 10.8 per cent in Victoria, and 7.6 per cent in Western Australia.
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