Residential building activity holding solid for June

Building Activity held up solid for the June quarter, with a healthy proportion of residential commencements flowing through to completions in ABS seasonal terms over the year to June 2015.

The latest ABS Building Activity data indicated that housing commencements recorded 53,314 starts, which is down 3.2 per cent on the previous quarter, but climbed to 16.9 per cent over the year to post 211,976 commencements. Multi-unit residential commencements grew to make up 46.2 per cent of the total starts for the year.

The completions activity also continued to carry through, reaching 48,941 for the quarter, to record an annualised 189,239 homes completed in seasonal terms. Multi-unit residential completions made up 40.8 per cent of the total homes finished over the year.

“The strong numbers of new homes coming through to completion are going to provide additional homes to improve affordability, which has been needed in regions such as Sydney for some time,” said Property Council of Australia’s Executive Director Residential, Nick Proud.

“Multi-units completions leaving the pipeline over the coming 6 months will be stronger than they historically have been, which is expected to provide options for those looking to buy and rent.

“The commencements have definitely hit a peak, however the completions should sit at these levels for at least another quarter or two as the pipeline of homes gets built”, Mr Proud said.

Media contact:  Clare Butterfield  |  M  04 095 822  |   E  [email protected]