NSW loses throne as confidence drops

The latest ANZ/Property Council Survey released this month shows the NSW property industry has lost its throne to Victoria as the industry with the strongest outlook, with confidence once again dropping.

NSW property industry confidence has dropped seven index points from 147 to 140 over this quarter and nine index points in the 12 months to March 2018.

The capital value expectation for the residential sector is also at its lowest point since September 2012 with expected construction activity also at its lowest point since the survey’s inception; both have attributed to the lowered overall industry confidence.

“The NSW industry is still strong, with a healthy outlook for capital value expectations in both the office and industrial sectors, and staff hiring expectations; yet we must look at what can be done to ensure our industry continues to deliver for NSW,” Property Council NSW Executive Director Jane Fitzgerald said this month.

Index	Overall Context	Quarterly Result	Index Quarterly Change	Comment
Confidence Index	POSITIVE	DOWN	147 to 140	Positive but declining
State Economic Growth	POSITIVE	DOWN	23.7 to 16.5	Positive but declining
State Govt Performance	POSITIVE	DOWN	14.2 to 9.9	Positive but declining
Debt Finance Availability	NEGATIVE	DOWN	-7.5 to -14	Negative and declining
House Capital Growth	NEGATIVE	DOWN	9.9 to -5.1	Negative with substantial decline
Forward Work Schedules	POSITIVE	DOWN	56 to 49.2	Positive but declining
Staffing Levels	POSITIVE	STEADY	30.2 to 29.7	Positive with marginal decline

“NSW is currently a fluid policy environment with many strategic planning documents, infrastructure financing approaches, and local planning strategies to be finalised in 2018; these need to be completed and implemented by the NSW Government to ensure strong industry confidence.

“We need to see policies that will strengthen the housing pipeline and enable housing where we most need it; a softening residential sector will have flow on effects to housing affordability, employment, and government revenue.

“These latest results show that our industry’s strong position must not be taken for granted and transparency and consistency must be provided through strong policy leadership.”        

To view select ANZ/Property Council Survey historical data series in the Property Council’s Data Room, click here.