The number of residential building approvals has increased across the country during July, which may be a signal that homebuyers in Australia are beginning to feel the effects of rate cuts earlier this year.
This is the eighth consecutive month for private sector approvals to rise, indicating that people are becoming more confident about the real estate market in Australia.
According to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), private sector house approvals rose by 1.1 per cent in trend terms for the month. Unit approvals also saw a small increase during the month at 0.9 per cent.
The data found that dwelling approvals for Australian Capital Territory grew by 12.6 per cent over this period, which may increase the supply of real estate in Canberra and the surrounding areas of the state.
Northern Territory was also a top performing state during July, experiencing a 4 per cent rise.
Approvals for residential real estate in Sydney and the rest of the state has reached an eight-year high, reporting 3,358 houses being approved in July.
This has led the state of NSW to outperform Queensland and Victoria in approval numbers, achieving over 3,000 homes approved each month for the last 11 months.
"The twelve months to July 2013 have been the best for new housing approvals in NSW since June 2005," said Minister for Planning and Infrastructure Brad Hazzard.
"This shows that the housing industry is clearly placing its confidence in the NSW government's approach, which includes a half a billion dollar program of housing-related infrastructure projects."
Mr Hazzard stated that the government is putting its support in making the planning and approvals processes easier and is "placing downward pressure on housing affordability".
"We are committed to making NSW number one and the continued rise in housing approvals shows business and consumer confidence is returning in this state," Mr Hazzard commented.
"The new planning system, due in parliament soon, will also help continue the trend, making it quicker and easier to build a home with less red tape and quicker approvals."
July's results have been welcomed by Master Builders Australia, with Chief Economist Peter Jones stating that it is a "positive sign that a sustained housing recovery may be taking hold".
However, Mr Jones said that there is still more improvement needed in order to supply enough housing to meet demand in the country.
"With the Election less than a week away both major parties need to build on this positive trend with their policies," he said.
