Sales of detached homes have reached lowest level since 2013.

July was a particularly lacklustre month for the housing market, as it recorded fresh multi-year lows in terms of sales.

Citing figures from the Housing Industry Association (HIA), Business Insider Australia reported that the sales of detached homes declined 3.1% in seasonally adjusted terms, marking the lowest level since 2013.

Victoria led the slump across Australia's mainland states. It recorded a 5.1% drop in home sales in July, its fifth consecutive month of decline.

"The slowdown in Melbourne home sales that started in March is showing no signs of abating," HIA said.

The turnover in New South Wales was also disappointing, recording a 2% fall in sales and 11.2% in sales volume.

“This is a relatively rapid slowdown in sales that is being experienced predominantly in the growth corridors of Sydney," HIA said.

The association explained that the high volume of unit dwellings in Sydney had resulted in a slowdown in new detached home sales.

Western Australia (-2.7%), South Australia (-2.7), and Queensland (-1.2%) also reported underwhelming sales. HIA said this recent weakness across mainland states was a first for the year.

The decline in sales dragged the growth of overall sales volume, which fell 6.1% so far this year.

These figures were consistent with the earlier report HIA published, which showed dampening building approval figures in most states.

“The market for new home sales across the country is cooling for a number of reasons including a slowdown in inward migration since July 2017, constraints on investor finance imposed by state and federal governments and falling house prices," HIA said.

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