New home sales rebound in August

New home sales bounced back in August following a decline in July, new figures show.

New home sales have rebounded, suggesting construction will remain strong into 2015.

Sales picked up 3.3 per cent in August, following a decline in July, according to figures from the Housing Industry Association (HIA) on Friday.

The figures followed Thursday's strong building approvals numbers which showed that approvals for the construction of new homes reached a record 198,000 for the year to August.

Economists say housing construction is on track to become a shining light of the economy, with the record number of approvals expected to translate to more jobs and retail sales.

But HIA economist Diwa Hopkins said it appeared new home sales had already passed their peak.

"Despite the August bounce, we still hold the view that new home sales reached their peak for the cycle back in April this year," Ms Hopkins said.

"Current levels remain elevated by a historical standard, which is consistent with still healthy levels of new home building throughout 2014/15."

August's result was mainly driven by a surge in sales of multi-units, which rose almost 20 per cent, the report said.

Detached house sales rose just 0.5 per cent.


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