SA ranks first in housing supply scoreboard
South Australia has been named Australia's best state for improving the supply of new homes through planning reforms, development approvals and land release, according to the Housing Industry Association (HIA) scoreboard.
In their latest scoreboard report, the HIA benchmarked each state and territory on their ability to address the housing crisis for the past two years, with South Australia leading the nation.
The report ranked each state and territory on 10 key policies and mechanisms that boost housing supply, including proven policies and innovative solutions.
The HIA said while local governments handle land use and approvals, state governments drive city planning and housing infrastructure, making them central to solving the housing supply crisis.
“Governments across the country are making announcements aimed at improving housing supply and it is challenging to determine which policies will genuinely improve housing supply from those that are disguising new taxes,” HIA senior economist, Matt King, said.
The report showed South Australia scored 9 out of 10, followed by Western Australia, which scored 8 out of 10.
King said the two states were the best at “understanding the problem and initiating actions to improve the supply of homes”.
“South Australia and Western Australia both received scores significantly higher rankings, with decisive planning reforms, streamlined development approvals, and a strong focus on land release,” King said.
The HIA scoreboard report showed that South Australia made “significant progress” by accelerating land release and development approvals, overhauling its planning framework by integrating artificial intelligence for automating basic approvals, removing stamp duty for first-time buyers, and boosting funding for construction trade education.
South Australia also implemented a Housing Roadmap, which introduced initiatives that could cut housing construction timelines by up to 18 months through streamlined code amendments and land division.
South Australia’s Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Nick Champion, said the Housing Roadmap will make it easier and faster to build more homes for South Australians.
“Through our Housing Roadmap we are making changes, introducing policies and funding considerable investments to increase the supply of homes,” Champion said.
“The government is working with the property and development industry to unlock more land so they can build the houses we need now.”
Similarly, Western Australia scored high on the HIA Scoreboard, with 8 out of 10, following key initiatives such as incentives for first-home buyers, a shared equity scheme, and vacant home incentives.
The report also showed that Western Australia focused on reducing the red tape surrounding building approvals, increasing development yields, investing in skilled labour, and attracting skilled construction migrants.
In comparison, NSW and Victoria only scored 6 out of 10 on the HIA scoreboard, following missed opportunities.
The report said NSW is “perennially a ‘one step forward, one step back’ jurisdiction” and pointed out the “unwelcome policy change” on stamp duty, which saw first home buyers exempted from stamp duty for dwellings under $800,000.
The latest CoreLogic data showed that Sydney’s median dwelling price reached $1,193,228, and regional NSW dwelling prices reached $749,380.
Under previous legislation, NSW first home buyers could forgo stamp duty in exchange for a small annual fee on properties up to $1.5 million.
Similarly, the HIA report showed Victoria’s introduction of taxes and costs on housing in recent years had driven investors out of the state, thinning the rental market further.
“At the other end of the spectrum ACT scored 4/10 and Northern Territory just 5/10 with their housing supply systems falling well short,” King said.
King said that while South Australia and Western Australia are in the right direction in addressing housing shortages, more needs to be done to achieve the federal government’s national housing target.
“Despite these steps forward, neither South Australia nor Western Australia are on track to build the number of homes required to meet their contribution to deliver on the governments’ 1.2 million homes target,” King said.
The National Housing Accord, launched in 2022, has set a 1.2 million housing target to tackle Australia’s housing supply and affordability problems.
Each state received a specific target and a housing snapshot outlining existing and expected future developments for each local area, focusing on delivering diverse homes in areas with existing infrastructure capacity.
To address the housing crisis, the federal government launched the National Housing Accord, which aims to deliver 60,000 new dwellings per quarter, yet all states and territories have fallen short of their Housing Accord target so far.
The Australia Bureau of Statistics data showed that in the first six months of the housing target, which started in July 2024, only 92,023 homes were approved, falling short of 27,977 homes.
According to King, the report showed the need for comprehensive policy reforms across planning and zoning, financial settings, taxation and skills development.
“Planning approvals need to be quicker in order to reduce the price of shovel-ready land.”
“The administrative processes required to bring land to market add significantly to the cost of a new house and land package, and new apartments,” King concluded.