New home demand soars

New home sales surged in January 2009, as first home buyers jumped to take advantage of the tripled first home owner grant.

HIA figures released yesterday, showed new home sales soared by more than 8% in January 2009.

South Australia led the charge with new home sales up 24.2%. Victoria wasn’t far behind with an increase of 19.3%.

New South Wales was the only state to record a decline in sales of 5.8%.

“A better start to 2009 for new home sales is an encouraging result,” said HIA chief economist Harley Dale.

“But a sustained recovery in new home construction will rely on trade-up buyers and investors returning to the market, and the timely procurement of the planned 20,000 new public and community housing dwellings.”