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“Rising interest rates can cause building commencements to slow within six months, but in this cycle, the lag will be significantly longer,” stated HIA Regional Executive Director, Fiona Nield.
HIA released its economic and industry Outlook Report for Australia today. The Outlook Report includes updated forecasts for new home building and renovations activity nationally and for each of the eight states and territories.
“There were almost 50 per cent more detached homes under construction in Victoria at the end of 2021 than pre-COVID. There are also more homes approved and waiting commencement than in almost 20 years,” added Ms Nield.
“With this elevated volume of homes in the pipeline, the number of homes under construction will remain at this high level next year and potentially into 2024.
“This strong ongoing demand has occurred at the same time as significant constraints on materials, land and labour, leading to rapid increases in the cost of construction. This is putting enormous pressure on Victorian builders.
“The boom in demand for new homes is being experienced in all states and territories and can also be observed across many countries as households seek additional space, given all the extra time they have spent at home. Consequently, global demands have seen prices for some key building materials rise significantly.
“The ABS estimates that the cost of home building materials, not including the cost of labour, increased by 15.4 per cent in the year to March 2022. On the ground, the increases are higher still. This is the fastest annual increase in the official estimate of home building materials since 1980 and they are still rising.
“The United States has seen an almost identical cost increase with material costs for residential construction estimated to have increased by 21.2 per cent over the year to April 2022 compared to the previous year.
“An acute rental shortage has also seen strengthening demand for multi-units. A further deterioration in affordability will see demand continue to shift in favour of multi-units and there are also early signs that migration is returning. These factors will more than offset the adverse impact of rising interest rates on this sector of the housing market.
“With detached home building in Victoria remaining at capacity potentially into 2024 and the volume of multi-unit commencements increasing, the shortage of building materials, land and labour will continue to be the main pinch point for the industry,” concluded Ms Nield.
The Victorian Government’s proposed Building Electrification Regulations are scheduled to commence on 1 January 2027. These regulations will require all new residential and most new commercial buildings to be built as all-electric, and in existing residential buildings an existing gas hot water systems (HWS) will be required to be replaced with electric HWS at end-of-life.
Notice is hereby given that the Annual Regional Meeting of Members of the Victoria Region of Housing Industry Association Limited will be held on Monday 16 February 2026 at HIA Cremorne Office – Level 1, 8 Gwynne Street, Cremorne, Victoria, 3121 commencing at 5.00pm.
The Victorian government has released today, on the stroke of Christmas for public consultation the draft regulations implementing parts of the Building Legislation Amendment (Buyer Protections) Act.
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has congratulated the WA Cook Government on its strong economic management and decisive action to address housing supply challenges through the Mid-Year Budget Review.