The total number of new home sales in Australia was down 5.6 percent on month in July, the Housing Industry Association said on Tuesday, falling for the first time in four months.
Sales were up 2.8 percent on month in June.
Among the individual components, multiunit sales were down 6.4 percent, while detached housing sales fell 5.5 percent.
"Consistently weak consumer (and business) confidence is weighing very heavily on new housing investment, far more so than is the case for retail expenditure," HIA chief economist Harley Dale said in a release accompanying the data.
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