September Finance for New Housing Disappoints
12 November 2012
September finance figures for new homes released today by Australian Bureau of Statistics..
Master Builders Australia - September Finance for New Housing Disappoints
September finance figures for new homes released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics have dashed the building industry’s hopes of a housing recovery taking hold.
Chief Executive Officer of Master Builders Australia, Wilhelm Harnisch, said the figures reinforce the call for
further interest rate cuts from the Reserve Bank.
“The 6.3 per cent fall (seasonally adjusted) in the number of housing loans for the construction of new dwellings will leave residential builders very nervous.
“The September housing finance figures show that the housing sector will be struggling for some time to come. It puts at risk the Reserve Bank’s assumption that the housing recovery will offset the decline in the resources sector in 2013.
“Clearly, the RBA rate cuts to date have not been sufficient to offset the lack of confidence of potential new home buyers.
“The only bright spot in the September housing finance data was the increase in the number of first home buyers. This increase is expected to continue as various State government new home buyer incentives start to take effect.
“The figures reinforce widespread calls for further interest rate cuts and soon,” Mr Harnisch said.
Statement by Mr Wilhelm Harnisch, Chief Executive Officer
