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Unfortunately, not all is currently well in real estate's residential construction industry, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA).
Preliminary statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that recovery in residential construction activity faltered in early 2013, showing that the future may still be somewhat rocky.
HIA senior economist Shane Garrett said that the volume of residential construction declined by one per cent in the first quarter of 2013.
"The slight fall in building activity in the first quarter of 2013 is at odds with the generally improving conditions over previous quarters. In spite of today’s disappointing figures, we continue to believe that housing activity is in recovery mode.
"The fact that residential activity has faltered shows that there is no room for complacency. However, this is a delicate recovery and policy settings need to be as supportive as possible to ensure that it is sustained," said Mr Garrett.
Still, compared to a year ago, the statistics are encouraging, with residential building activity rising by 2.1 per cent, and a 4.1 per cent rise in work done on new dwellings.
Renovations activity, however, fell with an annual decline of 8.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2013.
Mr Garrett stated that the succession of RBA rate cuts is having positive effects on home construction activity, and further reductions should help to safeguard this.
He states hesitance from lenders as a reason why renovations are performing badly.
Earlier this May, it was reported that in April, the overall national construction sector hit a seven month low.
The latest Housing Industry Association Australian Performance of Construction Index (Australian PCI®) was down 3.8 points at 35.2 in the month. A result less than 50 signals contraction in the industry.
Construction activity was weak in April at 34.7, while employment dropped from 9.4 points to 29.8 - hugely significant coming in as the weakest reading in the survey's seven and a half years of history.
As well as this, new orders and deliveries from suppliers were lower, and none of the four major construction subsectors recorded an expansion in the month.
The industry is feeling the pressure, with a significant need for continuous support and government assistance.
It will be interesting to see how May's statistics have fared, with many industry fingers crossed for a better month ahead for real estate in Australia.
