The Urban Developer
AdvertiseEventsWebinars
Urbanity
Awards
Sign In
Membership
Latest
Menu
Location
Sector
Category
Content
Type
Newsletters
Untitled design (8)
2 WEEKS UNTIL OUR UNMISSABLE FLAGSHIP CONFERENCE MORE THAN 550 ALREADY ATTENDING
2 WEEKS UNTIL OUR FLAGSHIP CONFERENCE 550+ ALREADY ATTENDING
REGISTER NOWDETAILS
TheUrbanDeveloper
Follow
About
About Us
Membership
Awards
Events
Webinars
Listings
Resources
Terms & Conditions
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Republishing Guidelines
Editorial Charter
Complaints Handling Policy
Contact
General Enquiries
Advertise
Contribution Enquiry
Project Submission
Membership Enquiry
Newsletter
Stay up to date and with the latest news, projects, deals and features.
Subscribe
ResidentialRenee McKeownWed 20 Jan 21

HomeBuilder Take Up Doubles Expectations

TUD+ MEMBER CONTENT
0306ebde-b845-45d9-9089-80cbbe273969
SHARE
26
print
Print

The HomeBuilder grant scheme is twice as popular as anticipated and is set to cost the government an expected $2 billion.

The original estimate for the scheme was $680 million for 27,000 grants when the prime minister first announced the initiative in June.

The latest figures released from the federal government shows nearly 75,000 households have taken up the offer for the $25,000 grant before 31 December.

Although the cash grant wound down to $15,000, the grant will continue to 31 March with the construction commencement date extended to six months, continuing to boost the residential sector.

HomeBuilder applications

New BuildRebuildTotal
NSW8,7144,97313,687
Vic17,3824,21321,595
Qld13,5073,10616,613
WA11,14178311,924
SA5,9491,4797,428
Tas1,5212911,812
ACT1,3715201,891
NT17815193
Total59,76315,38075,143

^Source: Australian Government, The Treasury to Dec 31, 2020

The treasury estimates HomeBuilder will now support up to $18 billion residential projects supporting construction into 2022.

Minister for housing Michael Sukkar said they were pleasantly surprised with the results of the demand driven program .

“HomeBuilder was designed immediately to inject confidence and encourage buyers back into the market to offset the devastating effects of the pandemic on the residential construction industry,” Sukkar said.

“On all counts HomeBuilder has more than achieved this objective, and it has kept hundreds of thousands of tradies in work who would have otherwise been facing the unemployment queue.

“This is a phenomenal outcome for our tradies and for our economy at a time it needs it most.”

However the grant scheme and low interest rates have brought forward buyers leading the Reserve Bank analysts to predict home prices could increase by 30 percent.

New home sales nearly double

New home sales have jumped to the highest point in 20 years according to the latest HIA report.

Across the country, new home sales in the December quarter were higher in all regions when compared with the same period in 2019.

South Australia was up 188.3 per cent, Victoria 103.1 per cent, Queensland 99.9 per cent, Western Australia 99.2 per cent and New South Wales up 61.7 per cent.

^Source: HIA

HIA economist Angela Lillicrap said this is the second strongest month of New Home Sales in the 20 year history of the survey, only exceeded by March 2001.

“The extension of the timeframe to commence building from three months to six, which was announced in November, played a significant role in December’s results,” Lillicrap said.

“New home sales in 2020 increased by 32.5 per cent compared to 2019.

“This is an exceptional result given the nature of the pandemic and the effect that it has had on the broader economy.”

So far global house prices have defied the pandemic however the likelihood of a house price bubble and its risk of bursting is yet to be seen.

ResidentialAustraliaConstructionPolicyConstructionSector
AUTHOR
Renee McKeown
More articles by this author
ADVERTISEMENT
TOP STORIES
The Port of Brisbane has released its Vision 2060 which details the need for inland rail connectivity
Infrastructure

Brisbane Port’s $15bn Future Faces One Big Obstacle

Renee McKeown
5 Min
Freecity Rouse Hill triple towers 2 Tempus Street
Exclusive

Freecity Takes Covers Off $330m Triple Towers in Sydney’s North-West

Leon Della Bosca
5 Min
Parallel Workshops Stockdale Housing PBSA project
Exclusive

Suburban Success Story Turns PBSA Thinking on its Head

Leon Della Bosca
7 Min
Exclusive

Interstate Developers Find Lots to Love in ‘Progressive, Affordable’ SA

Taryn Paris
5 Min
Bates Smart Richmond Sportslink HERO
Exclusive

BtR Focus Drives Bates Smart’s Richmond Sportslink Concept

Leon Della Bosca
6 Min
View All >
Industrial

Inland Rail: Site at Rural Hub Comes to Market in Victoria

Lindsay Saunders
Stockland's Triniti HERO
Build-to-Rent

Stockland $400m North Ryde BtR Approved on Appeal

Leon Della Bosca
The Port of Brisbane has released its Vision 2060 which details the need for inland rail connectivity
Infrastructure

Brisbane Port’s $15bn Future Faces One Big Obstacle

Renee McKeown
Global ports shift up to 30 per cent of containers by rail—Brisbane moves less than 2 per cent. Here’s why that’s a prob…
LATEST
Industrial

Inland Rail: Site at Rural Hub Comes to Market in Victoria

Lindsay Saunders
2 Min
Stockland's Triniti HERO
Build-to-Rent

Stockland $400m North Ryde BtR Approved on Appeal

Leon Della Bosca
3 Min
The Port of Brisbane has released its Vision 2060 which details the need for inland rail connectivity
Infrastructure

Brisbane Port’s $15bn Future Faces One Big Obstacle

Renee McKeown
5 Min
Logan Wastewater Funding hero
Infrastructure

Flush of Funding to Deliver 20,000 New SEQ Homes

Phil Bartsch
3 Min
View All >
ADVERTISEMENT
Article originally posted at: https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/homebuilder-doubles-expectations-costs-new-builds