04 February 2010
Todays private sector home approval figures reveal how poorly NSW is performing compared to other states, according to the Urban Taskforce.
These figures do not include the roll-out of public housing funded by the Commonwealth.
Todays result is not a one-off figure for NSW, Mr Gadiel said.
In NSW approvals for private developed apartments and townhouses have plummeted by 28 per cent since September.
In the last quarter of 2009, overall private sector home approvals fell in every month, while in Victoria they rose in two out of three months, and in Queensland they rose in every month.
Mr Gadiel said that todays figures also reveal that 2009 was NSWs worst year for private sector home approvals since the current ABS data series began in 1984.
Only 24,000 new privately financed homes were approved in NSW in 2009, down from a previous 10 year average of 40,000 homes per annum, he said.
Queensland also had a bad year with only 27,000 new private homes being approved, its worst figure since 1987.
Meanwhile, Victoria soared, with 47,000 private homes approved its best year since 2002.
Mr Gadiel said there were clearly unique problems with housing development in NSW.
All levels of government need to work together to boost the rate of new home development in NSW, he said.
This means having a state planning system capable of quickly approving major projects, without approvals being held hostage by not-in-my-backyard activists.
We need to see local council levies in line with other states – rather than the $30,000 – $60,000 we are seeing for each home now.
We need the Federal Government to invest in NSWs urban infrastructure, to help ease the way for more housing development.
Otherwise the costs higher rents and reduced economic activity will cripple the state.
The Urban Taskforce is a property development industry group, representing Australias most prominent property developers and equity financiers.
For every $1 million in construction expenditure, 27 jobs are created throughout the broader economy.
The construction activity made possible by property developers contributes $78 billion to the national economy each year and creates 849,000 direct jobs.
Note: Further illustrative graphs are in the attached PDF.
