According to the latest Housing Industry Association-CoreLogic report on residential land sales, Tasmania bucked the national decline during the December quarter, while the state also ranked among the most affordable for vacant residential land.

HIA chief economist Harley Dale said strong lot sales in Tasmania represented a delayed reaction to the new home building recovery, and he tipped the state to maintain strong growth into 2015-16.

‘‘The signs are good now, but if we look past our noses so to speak, there are even better signs ahead for the next year,’’ Mr Dale said.

‘‘Tasmania is certainly one of the nation’s strongest performers at the moment.’’

Of Tasmania’s four regions, Southern (120 per cent) and Hobart (33 per cent) recorded a particularly strong rise in the number of lot sales compared with 12 months earlier, while the Northern (18 per cent) and Mersey-Lyell (15 per cent) districts also rose.

Northern real estate agents said they had experienced a solid, if not spectacular, growth in the sale of vacant residential lots in the past eight months.

Tasland Developments sales and marketing manager Mark Harris said the extension of the state government’s First Home Builder Boost had encouraged people to buy land.

‘‘Yeah, we had a pretty good run late last year,’’ Mr Harris said.

‘‘The first home buyers grant has been important to stimulate the market – even now with a reduced rate seeing a lot of people take advantage of it keeping the industry going in the right direction in Launceston and across Tasmania.’’

Mr Harris said blocks on the fringes of Launceston remained popular, particularly at Legana, Riverside and Relbia.

Yesterday’s HIA data also showed Tasmania continued to provide the most affordable vacant residential land in the nation.

Mersey-Lyell recorded regional Australia’s second lowest median lot price ($74,000), while residential land value per square metre was just $95.

The median lot price in the South was $86,750, and in the North the median was $95,000.