Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that during June a total of 15,659 new homes were approved, down 5% in the previous month.
A breakdown of the figures shows the number of detached home approvals fell by 2.2% and the number of multi-unit approvals fell by 10.5%.
According to the Housing Industry Association (HIA), the voice of Australia’s residential building industry, new home approvals have now recorded falls in seven of the past nine months.
‘It is thus likely that we have already reached the peak in the home building recovery and that activity is likely to stabilise over the coming year,’ said HIA senior economist, Shane Garrett.
‘Despite Australia’s inadequate supply of housing, it appears that the usual suspects have brought the upturn in activity to a halt. These include factors like slow land release and barriers to the development of residential land,’ he pointed out.
He explained that the current climate is blighted by too many people not wanting new buildings in their backyard, known as the NIMNY effect. ‘Unfortunately, it seems that this culture is catered for too much by aspects of the regulatory mechanisms for new housing,’ said Garrett.
‘With interest rates at historic lows, the window of opportunity remains open for the supply of affordable housing to be significantly augmented in the near future. A greater push on this front by policymakers could ensure that the housing prospects for this generation of Australians are greatly enhanced,’ he added.
Victoria was the only state to record an increase during June, with approvals rising by just 0.3% during the month in seasonally adjusted terms. The largest declines during the month occurred in Queensland where there was a fall of 10.5%.
Elsewhere Tasmania saw approvals fall by 9%, South Australia by 3.6%, Western
Australia down 3.1% and New South Wales down 2.1%. In trend terms, approvals rose by 9.2% in the Northern Territory but fell by some 15.2% in the ACT.
