House Building Levels Drop

Construction starts are falling with new Australian Bureau of Statistics figures revealing an 11.2% drop in work underway.

According to the ABS, in the March quarter completions are also down by 0.6%.

The data shows work started on 48,012 dwellings and 43,816 dwellings were completed during the quarter.

Housing Industry Association senior economist Tom Devitt says the figures show Australia is not keeping up with new housing targets.

“Australia needed to deliver an annual rate of 240,000 new homes to reach the 1.2 million new homes target, but in the 12 months to March, just 197,340 new homes commenced construction,” Devitt says.

Master Builders Australia chief economist Shane Garrett says cost pressures and labour constraints are having a significant impact on building activity.

“Home building activity has been hurt by escalations in building costs and continued shortages of skilled tradies,” he says.

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita says some builders are thinking twice before e proceeding with new projects.