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The Australian Bureau of Statistics today released its monthly building approvals data for March 2025 for detached houses and multi-units covering all states and territories.
“Much of the improvement over the last year has come from multi-unit approvals, which were up by 52.6 per cent on the very low levels a year earlier, while detached approvals are up by a more modest 4.2 per cent,” added Mr Devitt.
“Despite the improving numbers over the last year, building approvals are still running at around 180,000 per year, well short of what is required to commence 1.2 million homes over 5 years.
“It is also important to remember that many recent apartment approvals are likely to be ‘faux’ approvals.
“A change in market conditions have meant that a number of apartment projects that were already approved for construction will need to seek re-approval and comply with the new construction code. The higher cost of construction will further impair sales volumes.
“There are a very large number of apartments approved for construction across capital cities, but only a small number of these will commence construction. Punitive taxes that effectively exclude certain investors from the market add further time and difficulty in finding buyers for new apartments, even after they have been approved.
“Multi-unit activity needs to be twice as large as recent levels for the Australian government to achieve its target of 1.2 million new homes over five years.
“As it stands, the government is set to fall almost 20 per cent short of its own target and a few interest rate cuts from the RBA won’t be sufficient to increase the supply of homes to meet the 1.2 million target,” concluded Mr Devitt.
“Home building approvals in the March quarter 2025, in seasonally adjusted terms, were up by 49.4 per cent in South Australia, followed by Western Australia (+27.3 per cent), New South Wales (+25.8 per cent), Victoria (+22.1 per cent) and Queensland (+0.8 per cent), while Tasmania was down by 12.9 per cent. In original terms, the Northern Territory was up by 81.5 per cent and the Australian Capital Territory was up by 43.8 per cent.
“The Housing Industry Association (HIA) welcomes the release of the Queensland Productivity Commission’s interim report into construction productivity It is a significant and necessary step toward overcoming the housing supply challenges facing Queensland,” said Michael Roberts, HIA Executive Director Queensland.
“New home building approvals in the 2024/25 financial year were up by 13.9 per cent compared to their 2023/24 trough,” stated HIA Senior Economist Tom Devitt.
HIA is calling on the Federal Government to act urgently to support Australia’s building product manufacturers and suppliers, an industry worth more than $130 billion and critical to the delivery of new housing across the country,” HIA Managing Director, Jocelyn Martin said today.
With the delay to decisions on the content of NCC 2025, the ABCB has published a further amendment to the current NCC 2022 which applies from 29 July 2025. The purpose of this minor amendment is to align the NCC with recent changes to the Premises Standards which apply to Class 3 to 9 public buildings, common areas of Class 2 apartment buildings and short-term accommodation