Residential building: strong for next two years

“Master Builders is forecasting another year of solid growth in the value of building work done in 2015/16, providing further impetus to the growth in the Australian economy,” Peter Jones, Chief Economist of Master Builders Australia said.

“The latest building activity data for the June quarter show that current the residential building upturn has further to run and that claims to the contrary are jumping the gun,” he said.

“Much better than expected dwelling commencements of 211, 500 occurred in 2014/15 and Master Builders forecast another plus 200,000 starts in 2015/16,” Peter Jones said.

“ABS forward indicators and of housing finance and building approvals project a solid pipeline of work for residential builders over the next two years and Master Builders expects real growth of two and half per cent in residential building in 2015/16,” he said.

“High rise apartment projects, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne continue to surpass record levels but detached houses are also contributing, up by almost 25 per cent from their level of two years ago,” Peter Jones said.

“New South Wales house starts, seasonally adjusted, jumped 11.6 percent in the June quarter in a hopeful sign that moves by the Baird Government to resolve impediments to land release are beginning to have an impact,” he said.

“The forecasts are predicated on interest rates remaining steady in the short to medium term,” Peter Jones said.