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HIA recently revealed Australia’s strongest markets for home building in the 2023 edition of the HIA Population & Residential Building Hotspots Report. The report identifies Australia’s fastest-growing suburban regional ‘hotspots’ based on population growth and also indicates areas with high levels of building activity and, therefore, employment for the building industry. Once again the HIA Hunter region was well represented in the report.
“Nine areas of the HIA Hunter region qualify as housing hotspots based on their strong performance in terms of building approvals and population growth,” commented HIA Hunter Executive Director Craig Jennion.
“Thornton-Millers Forest, is once again the HIA Hunter regions number one building hotspot with a population growth rate of 6.6% and $119.5 million in building approvals.
“Second on the list, Branxton-Greta-Pokolbin, had a population growth rate of 5.6% and $145.7 million in building approvals.
“Up one place from last year, Kurri Kurri-Abermain was ranked third with a population growth rate of 3.5% and $71.2 million in building approvals”, said Mr Jennion.
Of the nine hotspots, five are located in the Hunter Valley, three in Newcastle and Lake Macquarie and one on the Central Coast.
An area qualifies as a hotspot in the Hunter Valley and Central Coast region if at least $50 million worth of residential building work was approved during the 2021/22 financial year, and its rate of population growth is faster than the 1.2 per cent national average.
“The report found that Australia’s population growth improved after being constrained in previous years due to closed borders, whilst the value of building works approved and the growth rates of the local population has been very high locally.
“COVID-19 has also seen consumer preferences shift away from inner-city apartment style living to detached housing in regional areas. This shift saw strong Hunter based areas in this edition of HIA’s Population and Building Hotspots Report,” concluded Mr Jennion.
Below is a table and map which details the nine HIA Hunter Region Building and Population Areas.
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) has welcomed the ACT Government’s decision to progress the Missing Middle Housing reforms. This is a critical step toward increasing housing supply and improving housing choice across Canberra.
The Federal Budget 2026 introduces the most significant structural changes to housing taxation in decades. As the implications of the Budget became a little clearer this week, HIA’s Chief Economist, Tim Reardon and I have put together this summary
HIA responded to the Consultation Paper on the Review of Australia’s Mutual Recognition Schemes for Workers which details the Council’s interim findings on barriers to a single national market for workers supported by the mutual recognition framework and triggers the second round of consultation associated with the review.
HIA provided this further submission to inform the Expert Panel’s first review of the Road Transport Contracting Chain Order made on 28 April 2026.