An Australian Housing Recovery without a Construction Recovery?

There will be no housing recovery until there is a construction recovery: Catherine Cashmore

Albeit – do not mistake this for a market recovery – once again, it’s all confined to the established sector. Everyone is effectively fighting over the same pool of existing dwellings in a never ending game of 'musical chairs.' We’re simply paying higher prices for an ageing stock of second hand homes.

Indeed, there’ll be no housing recovery until we have a construction recovery. As the first ABS building approvals update for 2013 indicated, approvals in January fell for a second consecutive month, lingering back below the 13,000 mark.

Spokesperson for the HIA, Harley Dale, commented that even with a rise of 3.3% in detached house approval, overall approvals for this sector are still down by 1% over the three months to January 2013.

Fletcher Building LTD is also flagging the weight of the issue, stressing that the ongoing weakness in Australia's new housing sector is likely to last until the end of the year. Along with the others, they are crying for lower rates and a return of incentives for first-home buyers.