Sales of new homes rebounded to a five-month high in January, a sign that upgrading owner occupiers and investors may be coming back in to the market, a leading industry body says.

New homes sales rose 9.5 per cent to 8,444 in January, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) said on Monday.

Sales rebounded from December’s 11 month low and were the highest since August 2009.

HIA chief economist Harley Dale said early signs of increased new housing activity needed to be backed up by further evidence.
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Would-be first homebuyers who opted to wait out the buying frenzy spurred by the federal government’s grant boost last year may now be kicking themselves.

Data released on Monday showed housing affordability tanked in the final three months of 2009, retreating to levels not seen since 2008.

Housing Industry Association (HIA) senior economist Ben Phillips said first homebuyers had a small window of favourable affordability conditions to enter the market last year.

“The window is now closing,” Mr Phillips said in releasing the latest affordability report on Monday.

The quarterly HIA/Commonwealth Bank of Australia survey showed affordability plunged 18.4 per cent in the December quarter and was 22.3 per cent lower than 12 months earlier.
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Soaring house prices, rising interest rates and a winding back of the first homeowners grant all contributed to housing affordability taking a nose-dive at the end of 2009.

The deterioration was widespread in all capital cities and regional areas, with the largest falls recorded in Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra, according to a Housing Industry Association (HIA)/Commonwealth Bank of Australia survey.

Affordability tanked 18.4 per cent in the December quarter and was 22.3 per cent lower than 12 months earlier.

The association’s senior economist Ben Phillips said prior to the December quarter, first homebuyers had a small window of favourable affordability conditions to enter the market.
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Activity in the construction sector expanded in January, with housing construction hitting a two year high on government stimulus, a survey shows.

The Australian Industry Group Performance of Construction Index rose 8.4 points to 57.7 in January, above the 50 level separating expansion from contraction.

In the industry’s strongest performance in two years, the house building sub-index grew 10.3 points to 63.7.

AI Group director public policy, Peter Burn, said the improved conditions coincided with the reporting of increased tendering opportunities, new contract wins and a further uptake of work stemming from the Federal Government’s infrastructure stimulus programs.
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The number of housing starts is expected to increase over the next two years, but Australia will still be nowhere near meeting demand for housing, a report says.

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) says in its latest National Outlook report that the number of housing starts is expected grow seven per cent in 2009/10 to 141,660 and by 15 per cent in 2010/11 to 162,850.

The HIA’s 2009/10 forecast was largely unchanged from the March quarter outlook, but the 2010/11 estimate was revised upwards from 146,000.

HIA chief economist Harley Dale said a more optimistic outlook for the economy, as shown by recent private sector surveys on business and consumer confidence, was behind the higher estimate for 2010/11.
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New home sales edged slightly higher in June as first home buyers stayed active in the market, a survey says.

A Housing Industry Association (HIA) report found new home sales rose 0.5 per cent in June.

Sales of detached or stand alone houses climbed 0.3 per cent in June, while sales of multi-unit dwellings were up 2.9 per cent in the month.

In the six months to June, total new home sales have advanced 13 per cent.

HIA chief economist Harley Dale said the lift in activity over the first half of 2009 “clearly marked a healthy turnaround” in the market after a period of weakness at the end of 2008.
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The cost of land in Australia has increased by almost 10 per cent, a study has found.

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) residential land report shows the weighted median price of undeveloped land in Australia increased by 7.4 per cent in the March 2009 quarter to $172,490, following four consecutive quarterly declines.

HIA chief economist Harley Dale said the results poured cold water on doom and gloom assessments of residential property for 2009.

“Very low variable mortgage rates, the First Home Owners Grant boost, and attractive deals from volume builders have generated increased new home demand,” Dr Dale said in a statement on Friday.
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The number of new home sales declined for the first time in four months in May as fewer first home buyers entered the market, a survey says.

The number of new home sales fell 5.7 per cent in May, according to new figures released by the Housing Industry Association (HIA) on Tuesday.

New home sales had risen for the first four months of 2009.

“The small pull back in sales in May is likely to reflect a plateauing of first home buyer activity combined with continued weakness in the trade-up and investor markets,” HIA said.
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A recovery in the housing sector is expected in the second half of 2009, thanks to low interest rates and government stimulus spending, a peak industry group says.

The Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) quarterly National Outlook forecasts new home starts will fall by 17 per cent to a total of 132,000 for the year to June 30.

However, the report, released on Thursday, predicts a rise of 11 per cent in housing starts for the following 12 months.

The HIA expected 129,500 dwellings to be completed in fiscal 2009 compared with 141,100 in 2008 and says it will take until 2011 before the 2008 level is reached again.
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Lower interest rates and flat house prices have created the ideal situation for first home buyers to enter the property market, a leading housing group says.

A survey by the Housing Industry Association (HIA) and Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) found housing was at its most affordable in seven years during the March quarter.

HIA chief executive Chris Lamont says “there has never been a better time to enter into home ownership”, despite the economic downturn.

Mr Lamont said first home buyers had flooded back to the market due to the boost to the first home owners’ grant and significant builder discounts on house and land packages.
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Static house prices and low interest rates have improved housing affordability for first time buyers to their best levels in seven years, a survey says.

The Housing Industry Association-Commonwealth Bank of Australia housing affordability index for first home buyers rose 22.3 index points in the March quarter to 175.8 points.

“This took housing affordability to levels not seen since 2002,” said the report, published on Monday.

“Further drops in interest rates and moderation in house prices in some regions drove continued improvement in housing affordability.”
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The Australian dream of owning a home is more affordable now than it has been for five years following lower interest rates and greater government subsidies, a report says.

The Housing Industry Association (HIA) and Commonwealth Bank First Home Buyer Affordability index improved by 39.2 per cent to 153.6 points in the December quarter, from 110.3 index points for the September quarter.

First home buyers last had housing this affordable in the March quarter of 2003, the index showed.
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A generous round of interest rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) since September has saved 350,000 households from mortgage stress, the nation’s peak home building group says.

The Housing Industry Association says 584,354 Australian households with a standard variable home loan, were in mortgage stress in December compared with 934,502 in August before the rate cuts.

In that time, mortgage stress rates have dropped to 21.1 per cent, from 31.8 per cent.
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In a sign interest rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) are starting to flow through to consumers, the number of home loan approvals increased slightly in October.

But economists caution it is too early to pronounce a recovery in the housing market amid continuing economic uncertainty.

The number of home loan approvals for owner-occupied housing rose by 1.3 per cent in October, seasonally adjusted, ending a run of eight consecutive monthly declines.

The value of all loans for owner-occupied housing increased by 1.9 per cent.
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The sale of new homes rose strongly in October, the same month as government assistance to first time owners was tripled and interest rates cut further, a survey shows.

Yet despite the first monthly sales increase in four months for new homes, the housing industry says a recovery in the sector is still some way off.

New home sales rose by 6.7 per cent in October, the Housing Industry Association’s (HIA) New Home Sales Report, shows.
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