New Home Sales Maintain Momentum

Fears of escalating construction costs have done nothing to dampen enthusiasm with new home sales up 17% over March.

The Housing Industry Association’s New Home Sales report shows that sales of new homes have been increasing since early 2025, with disruptions of the past two months to fuel and supply chains not slowing momentum.

HIA Chief Economist Tim Reardon says new home sales for the March quarter are 31.9% higher than at the same time last year.

“This is a strong result given the impact of two rate increases and heightened global uncertainty,” he says.

He says a jump in sales in New South Wales and Victoria in particular is a welcome sign given their low volume of detached starts.

“More broadly, demand for housing remains strong, supported by strong population growth and low unemployment. These structural drivers continue to underpin activity, even as borrowing costs rise,” he says.

Builder capacity to respond to growing demand does remain a little constrained as the rise in the cost of skilled labour and materials is expected to persist through 2026.

Reardon says access to shovel-ready land remains the key issue affecting how many homes can be delivered.

Queensland had the highest increase in new home sales in March, followed by South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales.

Western Australia is the only state to have a decline in new home sales contracts during the month.