New home approvals hit record high down under

Melbourne in Victoria - the region with the biggst rise in new dwelling approvals Photo credit: Kev Whelan

Official data from the ABS released today show that approvals for new homes totalled 18,245 in seasonally-adjusted terms during November 2014, almost 3 per cent higher than the previous record which was set in August 1994 and the highest ever monthth level during November.

"With weaknesses in several areas of the Australian economy, new home building has come to life at an opportune time," comments Shane Garrett, Senior Economist of the Housing Industry Association.

"Residential construction is now a central pillar of support for domestic demand in Australia. It is important that policy reform continues in the areas of planning, land supply and removing the taxation burden on new home building. This will form an important part of achieving the necessary rebalancing of the economy."

Approvals in November rose by 7.6 per cent on the previous month, and were 10.1 per cent higher than twelve months earlier. Growth has been concentrated in the multi-unit segment of new home building, which rose by 18.0 per cent in November (year on year) . Detached house approvals saw growth of some 3.6 per cent over the same period.

"Today’s figures indicate that we can look forward to another positive year for the industry," adds Garrett. "An all-time high during November augers very well for the pipeline of residential construction work in 2015."