10 January 2013
The November building approvals indicate that NSW is being propped up by the apartment market, says the Urban Taskforce.
The November ABS figures for private house approvals indicate that NSW approvals are at the same level as the smaller states of Western Australia and Queensland with all clustered around 1500, says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. Victoria is way ahead with 2,400 approvals and they also have less people.
The high density apartment approvals in NSW are above the house approvals at 1,600 having climbed from a GFC low of 600 approvals. Even in this high density category, Victoria with 1900 approvals is ahead of NSW.
While there has been a small increase in detached housing approvals for NSW, we are still well below what a population of our size should be producing. Even more government support is needed to lift supply in this area.
The biggest problem in NSW however is the non-residential building sector which has dropped to $420 million compared to Queenslands $500 million and Victorias $700 million, both with smaller populations.
The positive performance of high density homes continues a 10 year trend where apartment approvals have matched or bettered house approvals. The only exception was during the GFC where investors pulled out of the market.
Sydney is clearly moving more towards apartment living and our planning system must support this change while still supporting detached housing on Sydneys fringe. Hopefully the imminent release of the NSW Governments White Paper on planning reform will continue the positive proposals in the Green Paper to make the planning system a simpler process for all parties.
