HomeBuilder drives record-breaking housing approvals data
Aussies are no longer able to get their hands on the government’s HomeBuilder program which, judging by the latest stats, has had a great level of success.
The 31 March was the last day Aussies were able to sign up to a building contract to receive support through the HomeBuilder program, with the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing that approvals for private sector housing have in fact broken all standing records, reaching the highest level since the ABS began the series in 1983.
Namely, private sector housing approvals soared 15.1 per cent in February to 13,939. Year-on-year, growth hit 57.5 per cent, with the government certain the record-breaking results have been instigated by their HomeBuilder program.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Michael Sukkar, the Minister for Housing, opined that these results also solidify other recent key measures of success such as a major year-on-year boost in new home sales growth of 60.5 per cent across the nation in the three months to February.
Moreover, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the Housing Industry Association (HIA) found last month that national new home sales in 2020 increased 32.5 per cent compared with 2019.
“Record-low interest rates and rising house prices are sustaining market confidence into 2021. This strong level of consumer confidence, combined with the demographic shift to regional areas, is driving ongoing demand for new detached homes,” HIA economist Angela Lillicrap said at the time.
Looking at state-by-state data, the strongest surge in new home sales occurred in South Australia, with growth hitting an extraordinary 149.7 per cent, followed by Victoria (69.1 per cent) and Queensland (60.4 per cent). NSW increased by 46.2 per cent, and Western Australia is up by 25.1 per cent over the same period.
“HomeBuilder was the catalyst for improving consumer confidence in the housing market,” Ms Lillicrap noted.
Additionally, the Real Estate Institute of Australia has recorded a 50 per cent increase in first home buyers in 2020 compared with 2019.
Moving forward, Treasury estimates HomeBuilder will support up to $18 billion worth of residential construction projects.
“HomeBuilder is supporting our economic comeback and will continue to support residential construction jobs well into 2022,” Mr Sukkar concluded.
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