Housing construction expands for ninth consecutive month while apartment construction contracts

Overall, the amount of new orders also rose similarly at 0.3 point to 53.6 points.

Housing construction saw a decrease in activity by 3.5 points over October, yet still expanded at 53.1 points, and new housing orders also saw a rise of 5.5 points to 59 points.

Apartment construction however contracted for the third month in a row, but was lessening, with a rise of 5.4 points to 46.8 points, along with new apartment orders, with a rise of 1.1 point to 47.4 points.

The amount of housing construction was predicted to further cool, according to Housing Industry Association principal economist Tim Reardon.

“The house building has continued to cool modestly throughout the year. This trend will continue into 2018,” he said.

Dr Peter Burn, the Australian Industry Group’s head of policy, said construction momentum from September continued into October, despite the contraction of apartment construction, along with flat commercial construction.

In particular, he said the outlook for apartment construction stemmed from historically high levels earlier this year, which the report mentioned was at 68.5 points back in May.

“The outlook for the apartment sub-sector is for a continuation of the orderly retreat from historically high levels that has been evident over the course of 2017. There may still be plenty of cranes visible on new apartment sites but there are now many less than was the case a year ago,” Dr Burn said.

Mr Reardon welcomed the contraction of apartment construction.

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