30 September 2008
Todays housing approval figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that the supply of housing in NSW is deteriorating further, according to the Urban Taskforce.
No improvement in the housing crisis is in sight, said Aaron Gadiel, chief executive of the Taskforce.
In fact, in seasonally adjusted terms, the number of home approvals in NSW has fallen every month, bar one, since March this year, Mr Gadiel said.
In the last six months, NSW home approvals have fallen by 15.7 per cent.
In the same period, Victorian approvals fell by only 1.1 per cent, although in Queensland they have fallen by 18.6 per cent.
Mr Gadiel said the decline in new home approvals was a worrying trend.
During the last year, construction started on 31,000 new homes in NSW well below the States seven year average of 39,000 homes.
“Home construction activity has been at record lows and well below the level of 50,000 homes a year that would be required to meet underlying community demand.
Home approval figures are a pointer to the levels of construction activity in the near future.
Unfortunately, todays disappointing figures show that there is no end to the current housing crisis.
Last months NSW Government Rent and Sales Report revealed that Sydney had seen an 18 per cent increase in rents for three bedroom homes and a 15 per cent increase for two bedroom apartments in the last financial year.
Without a strong supply of new housing, rents will continue to sky rocket and first home buyers will struggle even more to save a deposit for a home of their own, Mr Gadiel said.
The Urban Taskforce is a property development industry group, representing Australias most prominent property developers and equity financiers.
