Wednesday 16 April 2025
MEDIA RELEASE
Supply Gap Widens on NSW Housing Completions and Starts
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today confirms housing delivery in NSW in the 2024 calendar year fell behind the poor performance seen in 2023, prompting calls from industry for action in the coming State Budget to reduce taxes and fees, and speed up approvals.
The ABS data shows that, in the 12 months to December 2024, NSW delivered just 45,552 new homes compared to 47,567 in the 12 months to December 2023. Building commencements saw an even greater drop – from 46,331 in 2023 to 42,397 in 2024.
Property Council NSW Executive Director Katie Stevenson said the latest figures expose the growing gap in housing supply impacting families looking to rent or buy a home.
“This is now a clear pattern and should be a flashing red light for decision-makers. NSW isn’t just missing its housing targets – it’s drifting further away from them,” Ms Stevenson said.
“Just 11,564 new homes were completed in the December quarter – well short of the more than 19,600 new homes we need to be completing each quarter to meet our Housing Accord target.
“The data also shows building starts remained sluggish, with just 10,919 commencements – leaving a deepening hole in the future housing pipeline.
“At this rate, we’re delivering barely 60 per cent of the homes we need. That’s not just a statistic – it means more families and young people priced out, and more renters struggling.
Ms Stevenson pointed to a growing body of industry evidence showing how new and rising government-imposed taxes and charges were undermining project feasibility.
“Since we launched our ‘Release the Pressure’ series in May last year we’ve seen the evidence grow to confirm what we’ve been saying for years – rising government taxes, charges and fees are making it harder to get projects off the ground.
“Government can’t keep calling for the delivery of more housing while layering on new costs that make that delivery unviable,” Ms Stevenson said.
“We need an honest conversation about how to make housing stack up – otherwise we’ll keep seeing good projects shelved and targets missed,” she said.
ENDS
Media: Andrew Parkinson | 0404 615 596 | [email protected]