Home inspection and design service Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Royal Australian Institute of Architects, has reported an eight per cent lift in its pre-purchase home inspections in the first six months of 2006.
The announcement coincides with the release of Australian Bureau of Statistics May figures which showed that lending to purchase existing homes lifted by five per cent in May and 24 per cent in the financial year to 30 June 2006.
Archicentre, which conducts on average eighty reports per day across Australia, in the last financial year, reported on more than 20,000 properties with an estimated value of $7 billion.
David Lawrence, State Manager Archicentre ACT & NSW, said that the rise in pre-purchase house inspections particularly in May and June when compared with the first six months of 2005 is a good market litmus test.
"New South Wales was the outstanding area with 60 per cent more inspections being carried out in the first six months of 2006. This indicates the beginning of a dramatic turn around in real estate activity, particularly in Sydney," Mr Lawrence said.
"South Australia showed a lift of 55 per cent, Tasmania 21 per cent, Queensland 16 per cent, with Victoria and Western Australia remaining stable."
Mr Lawrence said that Archicentre's new pre-purchase timber pest inspection service, which operates in Victoria and New South Wales, had also seen a dramatic growth.
"The ongoing rise in spending on housing and the consumer awareness over traps in buying a home without a professional inspection is underpinning the growth of the pre-purchase inspections as home buyers moved to limit their financial and legal risks," he said.
New South Wales consumers are protected by the issuing of licences for building consultants to undertake pre-purchase inspections. (Contact the Office of Fair Trading at www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au for details.)
New South Wales leads the nation in this area by suitably qualified professionals being the only ones who can provide professional reports, Mr Lawrence added.
