Selling season?, page-35

And the hits just keep on coming...

The residential construction sector is facing a deep contraction. The Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday revealed overall construction across the economy fell 11.1% over the past 12 months. In NSW, residential activity fell by 10% to its lowest level since late 2015. In NSW, there were 781 new houses sold in July - down 20% since May - the worst July since records began. In Victoria, sales are down by 26% since May.Economists anticipate the latest figures will cut about 0.4% from the national accounts. Growth is forecast at 1.2% over them past 12 months, the worst annual result since the end of the 1990-91 recessionWestpac senior economist Andrew Hanlan said with the construction sector accounting for 13% of the economy, the sharp drop in activity through the June quarter would have a material impact on the national accounts.Financial markets and economists expect the RBA to use its November meeting to cut official interest rates to a new record low of 0.75%.