Industry group Urban Taskforce recently pointed out the significant dropping of apartment approvals in New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria.
Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed that it is the apartment segment, among other markets, which registered the fastest falling approvals. In September last year, NSW saw a total of 3,764 apartment approvals, but this has dropped to 3,041 in August this year. On the other hand, approvals in Victoria have declined more drastically from a high of 3,542 in December 2017 to 1,642 in August 2018.
“The overall housing approval figures are falling in NSW and Victoria with the major falls being in the apartment market,” said Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson.
“It appears that confidence in the apartment market in both Melbourne and Sydney is slowing rapidly with many developers indicating that presales are much less than a year ago,” he added.
With this situation, The Urban Taskforce encourages governments to come up with policies that support new housing supply. This is especially important because population growth targets have been kept unchanged.
The industry group zeroed in on proposed projects that seemed to have burdened the property instea of allowing it flourish even further.
“The pre- election environment in NSW has led to back downs on a number of planning policies including the ‘Missing Middle’ code, the Sydenham to Bankstown Planned Precincts and planning proposals in Ryde. The concerns by some community groups about the extent of new development in Sydney seem to have led to a move away from housing supply targets and this is lowering confidence in the development industry.”
For reference, house approvals in NSW have decreased from 2,504 in March 2018 to 2,336 in August 2018, while Victoria saw stronger house approvals 3,174 in August 2018.
