Nation’s Biggest Residential Builders Revealed

Australia’s biggest residential builders for the past year have been revealed.

The HIA-COLORBOND steel Housing 100 Report ranks Australia’s largest 100 residential builders based on the number of homes commenced each year.

For the eighth year in a row, Metricon Homes has topped the list, reporting 4693 new home starts across four states during 2022-23.

While Metricon Homes remained on top of this year’s list, the number of homes built was down compared with the past couple of years, HIA economist Tim Reardon said. 

“A drop off in activity was reported by three quarters of the businesses on the list, with the lower numbers reflecting the challenging conditions facing the industry over the last year,” he said. 

“ABN Group were the second-largest home builder, which is a jump of two places compared to last year’s list.

“With 3506 homes built across the Victorian and West Australian markets, ABN Group was the highest ranked of the 26 builders who reported an annual increase in building activity. 

“NXT Building Group rounded out the top three with 2865 starts shared across NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT.” 

▲ Metricon Homes has topped the list for the eighth year.

Meriton Apartments ranked fourth on this year’s list with 2267 new homes built and was also the top ranked apartment builder in the country, while Hutchies ranked as the second-largest apartment builder with 1332 homes built, narrowly ahead of the Mirvac Group with 1258.

“In 2021 and 2022 the industry grappled with a rapid escalation in the cost of construction, with materials in short supply and acute shortages of skilled workers,” Reardon said.

“Throughout 2022-2023 the industry faced the added challenge of rapidly rising interest rates.

“While there has been a heavy focus on the impact of higher borrowing rates on households with mortgages and the effect on demand for new homes, the higher borrowing costs also put further pressure on business margins during the year.

“Leading indicators suggest that the volume of home building activity may fall further before a meaningful recovery takes hold. Industry conditions will remain challenging in the year ahead.”