The Housing Association (HIA) has released (01/05/2015) a statement saying that approvals for new dwellings have strengthened during May and are remaining at high levels.
During May 2015, the approvals for new dwellings rose by 2.4 per cent to 19,414 in seasonally adjusted terms, compared with 18,964 in April. Multi-unit approvals saw a 15.1 per cent increase during May while detached house approvals fell by 8.5 per cent. 218,442 approvals were recorded in the year to May which has set a new record for approvals in a 12 month period since records were begun in 1983.
Shane Garrett, HIA Senior Economist, says that dwelling approvals were the third highest on record for the month of May. He said that we can look forward to a solid pipeline of new home building during the second half of 2015.
Mr Garrett indicated that recent price pressures in several markets indicated that the supply of new homes will have to stay at elevated levels in order to address the demand. He would like to see policy makers look at the excessive fees and charges on new residential developments and rectify bottlenecks in the planning system.
New dwelling approvals saw a strong increase of 11 per cent in Victoria during May, followed by NSW at 8.8 per cent and Queensland at 3.6 per cent. A slight increase of .2 per cent was recorded in Western Australia, NT saw approvals increase by 9.7 per cent and ACT by 6 per cent. Approval for new dwellings fell by 32.6 per cent in Tasmania and fell by 9.9 per cent in SA.
