The latest ABS housing figures show new dwelling commencements reached a fresh high in the September 2015 quarter. The trend estimate of the value of new residential building work done rose 1.2% in the September quarter. The value of work done on new houses fell 0.4% while new other residential building rose 3.5%. The seasonally adjusted estimate of the value of new residential building work done rose 1.8% to $13,554.8m. Work done on new houses rose 0.1% to $7,779.6m, while new other residential building rose 4.2% to $5,775.2m.
The HIA goes to town on the back of the latest seasonally adjusted data:
“Today’s update for national new home building is a stellar result not only for the residential construction industry, but for the wider economy,” said HIA Chief Economist, Dr Harley Dale. “New dwelling commencements hit a quarterly record level of 55,532 in the September quarter last year. The historical high of 215,329 commencements for the year to September 2015 is 15 per cent above the previous peak of just over 187,000 ‘starts’ in 1994.”
“Over recent years households and businesses have faced a barrage of negative chatter about below trend growth and downside risks to the economic outlook,” noted Harley Dale. “Throughout this time new home construction has posted one of its longest upcycles in history – providing substantial support to Australia’s economic output and levels of employment.”
“In a federal election year where there is a focus on options for economic and taxation reform, the new housing sector needs to be front and centre,” commented Harley Dale. “We need a visionary outlook regarding the homes Australia has to build over the coming decades to house its growing and ageing population, while not forgetting to celebrate the fact that new home construction and its massive spin-off benefits has propped up the Australian economy at a time when no other sector has come to the party.”
“As has been the case throughout the current cycle, the profile for national dwelling commencements masks large regional differences. In the September 2015 quarter new dwelling commencements increased in New South Wales (+2.4 per cent), Western Australia (1.7 per cent), South Australia (+1.2 per cent), the Northern Territory(+17.4 per cent), and the Australian Capital Territory (+0.4 per cent). Commencements fell in Queensland (-1.0 per cent), Victoria (-3.8 per cent) and Tasmania (-20.7 per cent).
