Friday 15 December 2023
MEDIA RELEASE
Property industry confidence in New South Wales remains strong in challenging economic landscape
Property industry confidence remains positive in New South Wales, with companies anticipating growth in their forward work schedules and a need to take on more staff, the latest Property Council of Australia Survey for the December Quarter shows.
The survey of Property Council members found industry confidence remained steady, with the Confidence Index increasing one point to 111 index points. A score of 100 in the Confidence Index is considered neutral.
The Property Council of Australia’s NSW Executive Director Katie Stevenson said perceptions around the state government’s performance were improving for the first time since the state election in March this year.
“Setting up a new government is no easy task, so it’s pleasing to see the overall confidence level in the NSW Government lift as more information on its housing and planning reform agenda comes to light,” Ms Stevenson said.
“For this trend to continue into positive territory, the details must align with the vision that has been articulated over the past few weeks.
“We expect this detail to be available in the coming quarter and remain committed to working through what is proposed to ensure it delivers the housing we need to accommodate our growing population.”
Survey participants identified housing supply and affordability as the most critical issue for state governments to address across the country, followed by planning and regulation reform.
While the report did identify challenges for capital growth in the commercial and retail sectors, performance expectations for residential and industrial remained strong.
“It goes without saying that NSW is in the midst of a housing supply crisis, and this is having an impact on affordability,” Ms Stevenson said.
“We also have a chronic undersupply of serviced industrial land. Industrial landowners are having tremendous difficulty in getting their sites serviced and connected to Sydney’s road networks.
“Our capacity to get the warehousing, manufacturing and logistics space needed to support our city is choking our future potential with investment opportunities passing over Sydney to capital cities which have land available.
“For our shortage of housing and industrial land to be resolved, we need to work on ensuring our development precincts have planning rules in place and the water and road network capacity to make it happen.”
ENDS
Media Contact: Kirsty Sier | 0435 075 085 | [email protected]