Sales of new detached homes appear to have stabilised following the end of HomeBuilder at elevated levels. The HIA New Home Sales report – a monthly survey of the largest volume home builders in the five largest states – is a leading indicator of future detached home construction. Source: Timberbiz
“Following a rollercoaster of sales over the past 18 months with the adverse impact of COVID lockdowns and then the HomeBuilder stimulus, sales of new detached homes in the three months to the end of October were consistent with the previous three months,” HIA Economist Angela Lillicrap said.
“This suggests that the market is finding it’s new post-COVID equilibrium.
“This new equilibrium is very strong. Sales since the end of HomeBuilder (April 2021 – October 2021) are the strongest they have been since 2017 when over 115,000 detached homes commenced construction.
“This indicates that the strong level of home building activity that is underway will be sustained throughout 2022.”
Ms Lillicrap said that demand for new homes continued to exceed the capacity that the industry could deliver. This was evident in the volume of work approved but not yet commenced, which was at its highest level in more than a decade.
“The ongoing demand for detached home building will continue to create strong employment opportunities throughout 2022 and into 2023,” she said.
In the three months to October 2021, sales increased in Western Australia by 45.8R% compared with the same period in 2019. Similarly, New South Wales was up by 42.3% and Queensland was up by 2.1%. Sales declined in South Australia (-1.3%) and Victoria (-7.5%) over the same period.
