The first interest rate cut in two and a half years had an immediate impact on the Australian home building sector, with a significant bounce for new homes sales in November, the Australian Housing Industry Association (HIA) said on Monday.

The HIA said its latest new home sales report showed new homes sales rose by 6.8 percent in November 2011, following a 2.8 percent gain in October.

Detached house sales increased by 9.8 percent in November 2011, driven primarily by a stronger showing in the states of New South Wales and Victoria, while multi-unit sales dropped by 17.0 percent.

HIA chief economist Harley Dale said the result was healthy but not unexpected.

"Only two months, earlier in September 2011, detached house sales plumbed an 11-year low," Dale said.

"From this parlous starting position, and with speculation regarding a rate cut mounting and then delivered upon, anything other than some recovery in sales volumes would have been surprising, not to mention highly disturbing."

However, Dale said there was still a long way to go to restore new home sales volumes to acceptable levels.

"At present, sales volumes are running at least 20 percent below what you could conservatively call healthy," Dale said.