02 June 2009
There is some cause for optimism in Victoria and Queensland, but more action is required to boost NSW housing development, according to the Urban Taskforce.
The decline in NSW home approvals seems to be bottoming out, but there is no upward trend like the one occurring in Victoria, Mr Gadiel said.
Its clear that the NSW government must take firm steps to re-build industry confidence in NSW housing development.
The housing undersupply is at its greatest level in NSW, yet this is the last major state to show signs of any turnaround in home approvals.
The NSW government should seize the moment in its 16 June budget and announce a major new program of land release in Western Sydney, together with plans to fund the infrastructure necessary to link release areas to the existing urban land.
We also need to see a sustained effort by state government and local councils to support the development of new homes in pedestrian friendly inner city locations.
Australia-wide the trend estimate for home approvals rose 2.2 per cent in April 2009, with revised figures now reporting a positive trend for three consecutive months. The stronger national figures have been driven by Victoria which increased by 15 per cent, in trend terms, in the five months following November 2008 (with a 3.2 per cent increase in April).
Home approvals in Queensland increased by 2 per cent, in trend terms, which could be the first step in reversing its 17 month, 50 per cent, decline in new home approvals, Mr Gadiel said.
In NSW home approvals have been trending down since January 2008 and theyre still falling although the rate of decline is getting smaller every month.
In NSW home approvals trended downwards a relatively modest 0.2 per cent and the overall decline since January 2008 has been revised from 42 per cent to 38 per cent thanks to changes in previous months figures.
NSW recorded a seasonally adjusted increase in new home approvals of 38 per cent in April 2009, however this is a highly volatile indicator and the trend figure is the more reliable number. The seasonally adjusted NSW monthly figures vary widely month-to-month; with the prior four months figures showing a decline of 5 per cent, an increase in 18 per cent, a decline of 20 per cent and a decline of 10 per cent.
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 $69 billion to the national economy each year and creates 709,000 direct jobs. The construction industry is Australias third largest source of employment.
Please see attached PDF for illustrative graphs.
