A continued flatline on building approvals should spur action from governments trying to fix housing affordability, according to the Property Council.
The Property Council’s Chief of Policy and Housing Glenn Byres said new ABS data showed a marginal increase of 1.8 percent in seasonal terms in January.
“The real tale of the tape is the medium-term picture with approvals now settling in at levels well below the peak from the prior two years,” said Mr Byres.
“We’ve seen a 17 percent drop in seasonally adjusted approvals since July 2016 as they fell from 20,972 to 17,412 in January.
“The data points to a decline in construction, jobs and investment – and ultimately a mismatch between supply and demand that will feed into prices without remedy.
“We need governments to convert the current conversation on housing affordability into a concrete plan of action that boosts supply pipelines, removes red tape and helps close the deposit gap.
“The Commonwealth has rightly flagged an incentives-based approach to spur the states to fix broken planning systems and reduce the cost of new housing production.”
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