New home sales start year strongly

Strong results in Queensland and Western Australia have given new home sales a strong start to the year. Sales of new dwellings by major builders and developers rose 11% in January, boosted by a 13% rise in sales of new houses.

The good performance of Queensland and WA compensated for disappointing results in New SOuth Wales and Victoria.

New homes sales in January were substantially higher than January 2007 and around the same level as January 2006.

Also encouraging were dwelling approvals for January, which were higher than for January 2006 and January 2007, but well below January 2005.

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