Building approvals grow by 9.7 per cent for South Australia

When it comes to finding that dream home, many buyers prefer to design and build it themselves, and recent data from the Housing Industry Association (HIA) has shown that building approvals in the sector increased during July.

According to HIA Senior Economist Shane Garrett, the total amount of approvals rose by 10.8 per cent in the month of July compared to June. Detached house approvals saw a rise of 3.5 per cent while multi-unit dwelling approvals grew by 23.3 per cent.

Many states across Australia saw an increase in their building approvals figures. Tasmania led the charge with an increase of 24.7 per cent, followed by Victoria (22.2 per cent), the ACT (12.6 per cent), Western Australia (9.8 per cent), South Australia (9.7 per cent) and the Northern Territory (4 per cent).

However, residential building approvals fell during the same month by 6.7 per cent in New South Wales and 4 per cent in Queensland.

"Following on from June's disappointing figures, the results for July indicate that the prevailing trend in the sector is one of recovery," Mr Garrett said in a September 2 statement.

"The general trend of improvement in residential construction is proof positive that the RBA's rate cuts are slowly fostering expansion in parts of the housing industry. We look forward to further movement on rates in the coming months."

In addition to these findings, the latest results from the Australian Performance of Construction Index (PCI) show that the house building sector may be edging closer to a recovery. For the month of August, house building recorded a score of 49 (readings below 50 represent a contraction in the sector).

If you're looking to build your own dream home, an experienced mortgage broker can help  ensure you have the right financing to make your designs a reality.