New home building is forecast to exceed 184,000 in 2014, which would be the second highest level on record, according to the Housing Industry Association’s National Outlook released on Monday. The association is now calling upon the government to stand up and encourage the further growth in the market.
“The report card confirms a strongly performing new home building market in Australia, which is delivering gains to the wider economy in terms of both growth and employment," HIA chief economist
Harley Dale said.
“A key disappointment this cycle is that governments have yet to seize the opportunity to develop strategies for housing policy reform. A shortage of titled land, excessive planning delays, and the re-emergence of skilled labour shortages – just three examples of supply side constraints – will again fail to be addressed if governments just sit back and ride the recovery wave,” Dale added.
The importance of backing the new home building market would not only help to sustain this recovery period for longer, but will help to build the new housing needed to keep pace with Australia’s growing and ageing population, the HIA argued. The group claimed Australia is currently suffering from a housing shortage problem, which is contributing to the price pressure causing housing affordability to become an obstacle for many Australians.
The outlook predicts new home dwellings to increase by 9.6% in 2014 and total investment in renovations is predicted to increase by 3.8% this year.
