New home sales for Australia rose 4.2 percent in March, 2009, and are now 20 percent above sales at the end of the 2008. The latest Housing Industry Association (HIA) figures were recently released and show that the housing market has done much better in the first quarter of 2009.
The increase in sales is attributed to the government’s First Home Owners Boost and low mortgage rates. Harley Dale, the association’s chief economist, noted that “The First Home Owners Boost for new dwellings is clearly lifting residential building activity and securing jobs within the Australian economy.” It is set to expire in June, and the HIA would like to see it extended.
New home sales rose in all five of Australia’s mainland states for the first quarter, the first such rise since the beginning of 2007. Sales of new apartments increased 4.7 percent for the month of March, but fell 14 percent for the entire first quarter.
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