The latest HIA-RP Data Residential LandReport, provided by the Housing Industry Association, signals persistentweakness in new home building in 2012.
The report showed land sales hitting afresh low and median land values rising further in the December 2011 quarter.
"The volume of residential land saleshas been below the previous trough set during the GFC for five consecutivequarters now," said HIA Chief Economist, Harley Dale. "Over the fivequarters to December last year land sales ran at a volume 40 per cent lowerthan their long term average."
The volume of residential land sales fell by 27 per cent over the year to the December 2011 quarter. The weighted median residential land value in Australia increased by 1.7 per cent in the December 2011 quarter to be 0.7 per cent higher when compared to the December 2010 quarter.
The median value for capital cities increased by 2.8 per cent in the December 2011 quarter to $219,001, 1.5 per cent higher than one year earlier. The median value for Regional Australia fell by 0.7 per cent in the December 2011 quarter to $153,883, to be down by 1.0 per cent on the December 2010 quarter.
RP Data's research direct0r Tim Lawless believes conditions in the vacant land market are the weakest in more than a decade.
"Vacant land markets are substantially weaker now than what they were back in the height of the GFC and the duration of the downturn has been sustained for five quarters," he said.
