The latest quarterly measures of the economic performance of Australian states puts NSW in a strong economic position, says the Urban Taskforce.
“The ‘State of the States’ report by CommSec clearly positions NSW in a leading position on most economic measures but Victoria is not far behind,” says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson “NSW has 17,217 dwelling commencements in the quarter with Victoria, which is 20% smaller in population, just behind on 16,838 commencements. The CommSec measures these commencements against each states decade average and this gives NSW an improvement of 53% against Victoria’s 21.4% improvement. The Urban Taskforce believes the actual numbers are a better measure of performance and that Victoria’s continual high performance over a decade should be seen in a positive light.”
“Victoria is also gaining fast on NSW with population growth at 2.34% compared to NSW at 1.57% growth. Much of the Victorian population growth is occurring in Melbourne which seems to be getting more approvals for detached houses than NSW.”
“On construction work expenditure NSW and Victoria are closely matched on the decade average measure with NSW at 25.9% improvement and Victoria at 25.2%. Victoria however has improved more in housing finance with a 25.8% improvement over 18.3% for NSW.”
“Our interpretation of the CommSec figures is that NSW and Victoria are well ahead of the other states with Victoria catching up on NSW with greater population growth and impressive dwelling commencements and housing finance numbers.”
“The NSW Government has clearly managed the state’s economy well but the potential for continuing this positive position in the area of housing will depend on how a series of proposed changes in the planning system are rolled out. We are concerned that a raft of council proposals to add significant affordable housing levies are being proposed and that the state-imposed cap on local council development contributions is being removed in stages- allowing councils to force significant levies onto property development, which will force up the cost of housing. Both of these changes will inevitably add significant costs to housing that will either make new housing less affordable to purchasers or make housing projects economically unviable, thus reducing housing supply.”
“The government must carefully monitor the impact of a variety of proposed levies on the cost of housing if it wants to maintain a leading role in dwelling commencements, housing finance and construction work compared to other Australian states.”
Download PDF Version: CommSec Results Good for NSW Economy
