2014.11.2620:32:00UTC+00Australia Capex Advances 0.2% In Q3

Total private capital expenditure in Australia climbed a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent in the third quarter of 2014, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday - coming in at A$38.254 billion.

That beat forecasts for a decline of 1.9 percent following the upwardly revised 1.6 percent jump in the second quarter (originally 1.1 percent).

On a yearly basis, capex fell 5.9 percent.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for capex for buildings and structures fell 1.9 percent on quarter and 8.0 percent on year to A$25.382 billion.

The seasonally adjusted estimate for capex for equipment, plants and machinery advanced 4.4 percent on quarter but declined 1.4 percent on year to A$12.872 billion.

Also on Thursday, the Housing Industry Association said that the total number of new home sales in Australia climbed 3.0 percent on month in October, following the flat reading in September.

The amount of construction completed declined 2.2 percent in the three months to October, while residential work fell 1.6 percent and engineering projects dropped3.2 percent.

"Sales are still off their cyclical peak reached back in April this year, but the overall volume of new home sales is still at an elevated level," said HIA chief economist Harley Dale. "That augurs well for healthy new home construction activity persisting into 2015."