Australia’s construction industry is growing at its strongest pace in more than three years, buoyed by home building activity against the backdrop of record house prices and mortgage lending. Low interest rates and the federal government’s HomeBuilder stimulus measures are among the factors driving the home building activity. The Australian Industry Group/Housing Industry Association performance of construction index rose by a further 2.3 points to 57.6 in the past two months, indicating four consecutive months of positive conditions. This was the strongest result since July 2017. HIA economist Angela Lillicrap said new orders in the house building sector remained at a record high in January, consistent with other indicators, including housing finance and new home sales. “HomeBuilder was the catalyst for consumer confidence in the market improving and this has been enhanced by several factors including low interest rates and growth in house prices,” she said. Ai Group head of …