New housing slump good for village sales – especially in NSW and Victoria

2011 saw 25% less housing starts than 2010. Economists had forecast a 2% rise in numbers in December but instead they went backwards by 1%. Just 11,443 housing starts were approved. NSW and Victoria are the problem states – QLD in December jumped 24.6%. NAB economist Spiros Papadopoulos says the market will remain soft – making new home starts worse than during the GFC. The National Housing Supply Council in December gave the shortage of housing nationally at 215,000 dwellings. Villages should benefit with easier family home sales given low supply and naturally high demand.