Sales of new apartments jump

The number of new apartments sold in December 2009 increased, but not enough to prevent a drop overall in new home sales for the month, according to the latest Housing Industry Association (HIA) survey of Australia's largest builders. 

According to the HIA, new home sales fell by 4.6% in December 2009. Sales of detached new homes fell by 6.2%, while the volatile apartment sector saw a rise of 10.4%.

HIA's Chief Economist, Dr Harley Dale, said that while a lift in new home sales in calendar year 2009 signalled a first round recovery in residential construction, there remained a question mark over how much of the recovery is dependent on the recent first home buyer boost. 

"New detached home sales increased by 7 per cent in 2009 with that recovery driven in large part by first time buyer-related activity", Dale said.

"After seven years of trend decline we will finally see an increase in housing starts in 2010."

Across the five mainland states, detached house sales increased in NSW and QLD (up 5% and 2.4% respectively), but fell in Victoria (down 17.1%), South Australia (1.2%) and Western Australia (down 8.2%).