New supply in NSW at steady levels
Data by the Housing Industry Association has indicated new property construction in NSW is progressing steadily, while new apartment construction has seen a slight drop.
Announcing the release of the HIA Housing Scorecard, NSW is seeing strong levels of new housing construction, and is currently the number one state for detached housing starts and detached houses under construction, according to David Bare, the NSW executive director of the HIA.
“NSW is still going strong. The number of detached houses being built at the moment is comparable with the highest levels that the state has achieved going back more than 30 years,” Mr Bare said.
“The state also rates very highly across indicators tracking multi-unit building activity. With over 66,000 non-detached dwellings under construction at the end of March 2018, this was nearly double the state’s decade average and makes NSW the top ranked state nationally for this metric.
“Leading indicators of multi-unit activity are not quite as strong as the market is easing back from the 2016 peak. Multi-unit approvals and commencements have slipped back by around 11 per cent over the year and the Scorecard ranks NSW third on these two indicators.”
Looking to the future, Mr Bare said new home construction is positive but also expected to reduce slightly.
“The continued investment in the state’s transport infrastructure, an appropriate supply of build ready land and continued improvements to the efficiency of our planning processes for housing is crucial to maintaining supply and preventing further erosion of affordability in the future,” he said.
Overall, NSW ranked second in the HIA Housing Scorecard national ranking summary, with Victoria coming in first place.