The volume of approvals for new detached houses is at its strongest in 15 years according to HIA\u2019s Senior Economist Shane Garrett.<\/p>\n
Building approvals data released recently shows that over the three months to April 2018, a total of 31,562 new detached houses were approved for construction, the most in any three-month period since 2003.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe performance of the detached house building market is remarkable,\u201d Mr Garrett said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe volume of house approvals during the three months to April was 9.9 per cent higher than a year ago, a time when it was already elevated.<\/p>\n
\u201cStrong demand for new houses is being sustained by healthy rates of population growth \u2013 itself a\u00a0product of robust labour markets in Australia\u2019s largest cities, while it\u2019s a virtuous circle for detached house\u00a0building at the moment, there are risks on the horizon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt appears that the banking Royal Commission has already led banks to increase their scrutiny of mortgage lending.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this results in a protracted disruption to the mortgage market then there are likely to be ramifications for the home building industry.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter posting a strong end to 2017, approvals for multi-units cooled by 9.4 per cent over the three months to April but it is still comparable with this time last year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe apartment market remains under pressure due to the stiffer tax\u00a0burden on foreign buyers in most
\nstates as well as tighter regulatory conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese interventions represent a real risk for the house building industry,\u201d Mr Garrett concluded.<\/p>\n
The ACT saw the largest expansion in new dwelling approvals during April 2018 with an\u00a0increase of 39.2 per cent compared with a year earlier.<\/p>\n
Over the same period approvals grew in Victoria by 25.8 per cent while in Tasmania they were up 15.2 per cent and South Australia had a slight increase of 1.9 per cent. Building approvals fell in four markets over the year to April being Queensland down by 11.5 per cent, the NT by 6.6 per cent, NSW by 5.4 per cent and WA 3.0 per cent down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The volume of approvals for new detached houses is at its strongest in 15 years according to HIA\u2019s Senior Economist Shane Garrett. Building approvals data released recently shows that over the three months to April 2018, a total of 31,562 new detached houses were approved for construction, the most in any three-month period since 2003. […]<\/p>\n