The latest month of July 2019 figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal a drastic and alarming drop in housing approvals, says the Urban Taskforce.
‘NSW Housing approvals have plummeted from a peak of over 6700 approvals in July in 2016 to now 3600 approvals which represents a 47% drop from the peak in 2016. This is the slowest approvals since 2012 says Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson.
This huge decline in housing approvals, combined with the recent announcement by the Reserve Bank to drop the interest cash rate to 0.75 percent could potentially lead to another housing price bubble.
‘The drop in interest rates will act to stimulate the housing market, encouraging more buyers to purchase homes. However, given that approvals have declined so much, it is likely that housing supply will not match the increase in demand, leading to increased house prices.’
‘This does nothing to address Sydney’s housing affordability crisis. The clear signal to the NSW government is that more housing must be approved to meet demand otherwise we will have similar price spikes as we had back in 2015-2016
‘Currently the planning system in NSW is causing growth and development to stagnate. New housing projects cannot get through the approval system, and large projects, such as the Star Casino redevelopment and St Leonards South Precinct are being refused for spurious reasons by unelected planning authorities such as the Independent Planning Commission. These two projects alone could generated thousands of new homes and jobs for Sydneysiders. Urgent action is required now by the NSW Government to get home approvals back to the government’s own target of a minimum 40,000 homes per annum.’
‘The Urban Taskforce is always keen to work proactively with government to lift housing approvals and deliver homes in places where people want to live.’
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