AUSTRALIAN BUILDING CONFIDENCE ON THE DECLINE: SURVEY.

CANBERRA, Dec 1 Asia Pulse - Building sector confidence in the next six months is on the slide, a survey by the Master Builders Association has found.

A survey of its members found business conditions improved during the December quarter, with 92.3 per cent of respondents rating their own business conditions as satisfactory or better.

But there was a difference between the residential and commercial sector, with the home-building sector enjoying a much better December quarter.

When it came to the next six months, the number of members expecting conditions to improve dropped more than 10 percentage points.

Association chief executive Wilhelm Harnisch said the expectation of an interest rate rise was driving many builders to expect a slow-down in conditions in coming months.

Mr Harnisch said the survey should be heeded by the Reserve Bank which meets on Tuesday for the last time of the year.

The bank, which lifted rates last month by a quarter of a percentage point, is tipped to do the same again this ...