Less than a month after Tasmania registered strong take-ups in areas of new detached home growth and an emerging first homebuyers market, the state’s home building industry outperformed every other state and territory during the 2017- 2018 period.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data for that period showed that total dwelling starts in the state increased by 29.4%, marking the highest rise across the nation.
Growth in both detached house and multi-unit segments of the market was recorded. Starts in detached house rose by 30.3% and starts for multi-unit segments tracked higher by 25.4%.
The number of approvals also remained strong, implying a healthy pipeline of new home building activity for the rest of the current financial year.
Given these encouraging results, it was not surprising that Tasmania bucked the cooling trend in home building across Australia.
HIA also underscored the importance of the housing sector in the development of the nation. “This strength in the industry should not be taken for granted. All governments must continue to support the housing industry and improve on the state’s housing and planning policies to enable ongoing and sustainable growth in Tasmania’s residential building sector and wider economy,” Housing Industry Association (HIA) Executive Director Rick Sassin said.
“At this most critical stage of state council elections, all parties need to show Tasmanians how they are reducing red tape and improving planning and building approvals processes to ensure for the continued health of our industry.”
Sassin also pointed out that the numbers logged implied a “strong result” for the state.
Currently, the state is experiencing a wider economic success, and the strength of home building in Tasmania is deemed to have played a big part in this outcome.
It was also reported that Tasmania’s economic revival has seen a rebound in population growth, which is evident in the construction workforce – up by 32.8% from the decade average.
