HomeBuilder driving surge in housing approvals

“The number of building approvals for new homes jumped by 15.4% in seasonally-adjusted terms thanks to the continued success of the Federal Government’s HomeBuilder scheme,” Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia said.

“During September, there was a 9.7% increase in private sector detached house approvals while approvals for apartments and units did even better, jumping by 23.4% up from August,” she said.

“These positive figures are mirrored by lending data showing a 25.3% surge in the number of loans to owner occupiers for new home construction,” Denita Wawn said.

“Even prior to the start of the Covid-19 crisis, new home building activity in Australia had been in the advanced stages of downturn. The introduction of HomeBuilder has turned things around. Approvals for new detached houses are now 20.7% up on this time last year,” she said.

“The recovery in residential building will benefit the whole economy. Every $1 million in residential building activity supports 9 jobs right around our economy,” Denita Wawn said.

“The upturn generated by HomeBuilder is helping claw back some of the jobs lost as a result of the pandemic,” she said.

“Extending HomeBuilder until the end of 2021 will maximise the benefits of the scheme will be fully maximized. It will mean the renewed momentum in the housing market to reach its full potential over the course of next year and provide even more benefits to our whole economy in terms of restoring employment,” Denita Wawn said.