Property buyers show a preference for new homes

If you’ve got your eye on a brand new property at the moment, chances are you won’t be alone. The HIA New Home Sales Report shows that sales of this type of property have increased so far this year – a trend that many mortgage brokers are likely to have seen.

“Detached houses drove the modest increase in new home sales in June this year, with a 1.7 per cent rise offsetting a 2.9 per cent decline in the sale of multi-units,” revealed Housing Industry Association (HIA) Chief Economist Harley Dale.

He noted that during the first six months of 2015, seasonally-adjusted sales figures were up 0.5 per cent. A peak was reached back in April, but this hasn’t stopped buyers continuing to choose new homes over established properties.

Victoria and New South Wales emerged as the premier states for sales of detached houses. However, the remainder of the mainland states didn’t quite see such positive results. Throughout the June quarter, sales were down 10.2 per cent in South Australia, followed by falls of 7 per cent and 3.1 per cent in Queensland and Western Australia respectively.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has also released its dwelling approvals data in recent days. It showed that the number of homes given the go ahead in June was down 1.2 per cent over the previous month.

The strongest increases in approvals were witnessed in the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory, which registered rises of 14.6 per cent and 8.7 per cent. Queensland and Tasmania were the only other jurisdictions to have seen a rise in approvals.

It’s therefore a good idea if you are considering an investment home loan on a brand new property to assess what construction activity is like in your chosen area. This will give you an indication of how much real estate is available.