Demand for detached dwellings remained strong six months after the HomeBuilder stimulus ended in March.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that approvals for detached homes over the three months to September increased by 15.5% from the same quarter last year.

Housing Industry Association (HIA) economist Tim Devitt said the quarterly gains in detached dwelling approval indicate a healthy pipeline of on-the-ground home building work to the end of next year.

“Leading indicators, including HIA’s New Home Sales data, suggest that the detached market remains robust despite lockdowns," he said.

In fact, sales during the same quarter — while not as strong as they were last year when HomeBuilder demand was at its peak — were still 7.4% higher than in 2019.

"These sales will flow through to approvals data in the coming months and will continue to create employment opportunities into the second half of 2022," Mr Devitt said.

Apartment approvals also strengthened during the period, up by 34.3% from last year.

Mr Devitt said approvals for apartments have been increasing since last year, led by New South Wales and, to a lesser extent, Queensland, and Western Australia.

"This suggests investors are looking through the haze of the pandemic to a brighter outlook on the other side," he said.

Furthermore, there has also been increased activity in medium density housing, which could suggest that this market is also benefitting from the shift in preferences towards lower density housing.

The price gains in the detached housing segment may also be adding to the popularity of medium-density homes.

"With Australians spending more time at home and accumulating a significant amount of savings, an increase in demand for larger living spaces is unsurprising,” Mr Devitt said.

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Photo by Harmen Jelle van Mourik on Unsplash.