A hefty increase in residential building approvals across Victoria has seen some strength return to Australia's new home building industry.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, total residential building approvals jumped 3.4 per cent to 12,544 in November, with private sector houses rising 2.6 per cent to 8,532 and the approval of flats, units and apartments also rising 7.6 per cent to 3,649.
Building industry body, HIA, said that the numbers reflect a very slight pre-Christmas rush that was heavily concentrated in Victoria while for the rest of Australia, the orderly slowdown continues.
HIA's Executive Director of Housing and Economics, Simon Tennent, said that the strong rise in Victoria wasn't enough to turn the national trend back into positive territory but there appears to be a level of underlying confidence in the market that perhaps the worst has passed.
"2005 will be remembered as a year in which consumers were willing but not able to jump into the new home market", Mr. Tennent said.
"The fundamentals were strong but the relentless rise in house and land prices saw many sit on the sidelines, keeping pressure on an already overheated rental market," he added.
"Today's figures confirm that while demand has been patchy, many within the industry know that as the months tick by, we continue to build up demand for new housing."
"With pressure remaining off rates and the potential for income tax cuts, it could be just the tonic to put a floor under activity and see it edge up throughout 2006 as these early figures suggest", Mr. Tennent said.
For November, in seasonally adjusted terms dwelling approvals increased in Victoria, up 19.2 per cent, and New South Wales, up 0.9 per cent. Approvals fell in South Australia, down 7.6 per cent, followed by Tasmania, down 5.0 per cent, Western Australia, down 3.6 per cent and Queensland, down 3.1 per cent.
