AFTER a long snooze, Australia’s housing market is finally showing signs of life.
New home building approvals jumped 12 per cent in September, buoyed by falling interest rates and steady population growth, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
HIA Senior Economist Tom Devitt said both detached houses and apartments were getting a glow-up: approvals for standalone homes rose 4.4 per cent, while multi-unit developments skyrocketed 23.7 per cent.
“Sales in Sydney and Melbourne have been sluggish all year, but the September numbers show the market is waking up,” Mr Devitt said.
New home sales jumped more than 34 per cent in both states, a trend expected to spill over into approvals in the coming months.
Apartments are enjoying their moment too. State government interventions to speed up approvals and encourage off-the-plan purchases are helping multi-unit approvals bounce back from historically low levels – possibly setting the stage for a construction boom in 2026.
But not all is rosy. Land prices are on a rocket ride, up 6.8 per cent nationwide over the past year – three times faster than inflation. Smaller capitals are feeling the squeeze most, as population growth collides with limited “shovel-ready” land.
“Without enough ready-to-build land and proper infrastructure, hitting the Government’s 1.2 million new home target will be tricky,” Mr Devitt warned.
“Cheap money alone won’t do the job.”
Across the states, approvals were up in New South Wales (+19.5%), Queensland (+9.7%), Tasmania (+9%) and South Australia (+5%), but slipped in Western Australia (-2.5%) and Victoria (-0.9%).
The territories, however, had a party: the ACT jumped 153% and the Northern Territory 36.1%.
Experts beliveves that with land prices climbing, buyers may need more than luck to catch this wave.
HIA
