This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
RESIDENTIAL building pushed the value of construction work done 2.4% higher during the March quarter as Australians took up the federal government’s HomeBuilder initiative in droves.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows residential building lifted by 5.1% to $18.96 billion over the three-month period, taking all work done to nearly $51.98 billion.
Non-residential building dipped 1.6% to $11.233 billion, for a total building result of $30.19 billion, up 2.5%.
Engineering work increased 2.2% to $21.78 billion.
Momentum in the house building sector is expected to continue to despite the end of the federal government’s HomeBuilder policy, according to Archistar’s Dr Andrew Wilson.
The recent federal budget introduced the New Home Guarantee that enables qualified first home buyers to purchase a new home with a 5% deposit, limited to 10,000 successful applicants.
Private sector house building approvals reached a new record high over March of 15,317, a remarkable 11.8% higher than the previous record set In February and 45.6% higher over the three months of this year compared to the same period in 2020.
“The recent unprecedented increase in house building approvals is clearly a positive for a post-COVID economic revival, contributing to continued strong jobs growth and placing downward pressure on unemployment,” Wilson said.
“Supply constraints however are likely to emerge as a result of a significant bringing forward of demand with higher building costs leading to higher new home prices.”
Perth was the top performer with house building approvals up by 117.9% over the first three months of this year compared to the same period in 2020. The city was second only to Melbourne over the month and continues to widen the gap to Sydney and Brisbane.
The top performing Local Government Area over the year ending March nationally was Melbourne’s Wyndham with 5,758 approvals, followed by Melton 4,852, Casey 3,951, Moreton Bay 3,898 and Greater Geelong 3,634.
Sydney reported the top average building cost per house approval of $392,319 over March, followed by Melbourne ($346,136), Brisbane ($297,944), Perth ($280,561) and Adelaide ($260,431).
