New South Wales has its housing market to thank for being named as the nation’s best performing economy, with the Northern Territory stepping down to second place.
 
NT used to share the spot with NSW, but the weakness of its housing sector took its toll. NT is specifically strong in terms of its jobs market and the huge liquefied natural gas projects.
 
Meanwhile, mining powerhouse Western Australia stays in the third spot due to its gloomy unemployment figures, the latest CommSec's State of the States report said.
 
CommSec assesses each jurisdiction on several factors including economic growth, retail spending, unemployment, population growth and the housing sector.
 
"The state and territory economies that are performing well have the strength in terms of housing," chief economist Craig James was quoted as saying in abc.net.au.
 
"So we're seeing that very much in New South Wales, [which is] number one in terms of dwelling starts and number two in terms of housing finance, and of course they're on top of the economic leader board."
 
James said “momentum was gathering in the Victorian economy, where strong population growth was boosting housing construction”. The study found Victoria was the best performer on the housing finance indicator.
 
Tasmania landed in the last place but CommSec remains optimistic that there were brighter signs.
 
"What we're seeing in Tasmania in terms of dwelling starts is that they're up 50% on a year ago," James said.
 
"And when we're looking out over the next six to 12 months, that strength that we're seeing in new dwelling starts is going to feed its way right through the Tasmanian economy."
 

Collections: