Home Building Up For 9th Month

A new construction industry report reveals that, overall, construction rose over October, making it the ninth month in a row for expansion. But the growth rate is slowing.

The Australian Performance of Construction Index rose by a modest 0.3 point to 52.9 points in October.

Dr Peter Burn, the Australian Industry Group's head of policy, says construction momentum from September continued into October, despite the contraction of apartment construction, along with flat commercial construction. The amount of housing construction was predicted to further cool, according to Housing Industry Association principal economist Tim Reardon.

"House building has continued to cool modestly throughout the year," he says. "This trend will continue into 2018."

Burn says 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 a year ago," he says.