Home sales in Australia have weakened for the third consecutive month. The Housing Industry Association says new home sales in September dropped 3.7%.
AAP reports that follows a fall of 5.3% in August, which brought new home sales to their lowest point since 1997.
HIA chief economist Harley Dale said the data showed consumers were losing confidence in the housing sector.
Dr Dale said detached house sales were an important factor in the weak trend, falling 3.5% in September, while multi-unit sales fell 4.2%.
The Reserve Bank of Australia cut the official cash rate to 3.25% in October.
