HIA
AUSTRALIA’S biggest home builders ramped up construction by almost 10 per cent in the past financial year, but the industry is warning the surge could prove short-lived as weaker sales threaten the pipeline for 2027.
The latest HIA Housing 100 shows the country’s largest residential builders commenced 70,553 homes in 2025-26, up 9.4 per cent from 64,481 a year earlier and the first time since 2021-22 the figure has topped 70,000.
Detached housing drove much of the growth, with starts climbing 11 per cent to 52,058.
Semi-detached starts jumped 14 per cent to 7397, while multi-unit construction recorded much weaker growth of just one per cent to 11,098.
Together, the Housing 100 builders accounted for 35 per cent of all new homes commenced across Australia during the year.
There was also a changing of the guard at the top of the industry.
Sumitomo Forestry Australia, which includes Metricon, Henley, Wisdom and Scott Park Group, was ranked Australia’s largest home building group after recording 8038 starts.
Metricon had occupied the number one position for the previous decade, but its acquisition by Sumitomo Forestry means a new name now sits at the top of the rankings.
ABN Group was second with 3764 starts, while NEX Building Group moved from fourth to third after commencing 3585 homes.
HIA Chief Economist Tim Reardon said the results demonstrated builders had responded to stronger market conditions by increasing housing supply.
“The Housing 100 demonstrates that the industry has the capacity to increase the supply of new homes when market conditions allow,” Mr Reardon said.
But behind the stronger construction numbers, HIA has warned conditions shifted significantly during 2026 and could increasingly weigh on new housing starts next year.
Mr Reardon said stronger home sales through the second half of 2025 and early 2026 had provided builders with a pipeline of projects that continued moving into construction throughout 2025-26.
Since then, HIA says the reversal of the 2025 interest rate cuts, weaker consumer confidence and changes to property investment taxation settings have contributed to falling new home sales.
Because of the lag between the sale of a new home and construction commencing, Mr Reardon said the latest figures reflected earlier market conditions rather than necessarily indicating what lies ahead.
The rankings also revealed significant movement among some of Australia’s major builders.
Homecorp Constructions jumped from 31st to 13th, while Hutchies climbed from 14th to eighth.
Summit Homes entered the top 10 for the first time after ranking 15th in 2023-24.
Parkview Constructions was Australia’s largest multi-unit builder with 2735 starts.
