Melbourne Dominates Australian Building Hotspots List

Of Australia's fastest growing suburbs, 12 of the top 20 are in Melbourne, according to the Housing Industry Association's annual list of building and residential "hotspots".

The garden state was 2017's stand out with Melbourne dominating the rankings of the nation's biggest growth areas.

Melbourne's building boom, rising infrastructure projects and a growing services sector are to thank for the cities swelling numbers.

"Last year’s census unearthed 144,000 more residents in Melbourne than was previously known," the report said.

The HIA report classified "hotspots" as areas with a population growth rate that bettered the national growth rate in 2016-17, which was 1.6 per cent.

Residential building work also had to be in excess of $150 million for New South Wales and Victoria; in excess of $100 million for Queensland and Western Australia; in excess of $50 million for South Australia; in excess of $20 million for regions in the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory; and in excess of $10 million in Tasmania.

Qualifying hotspots were then ranked on the basis of their respective population growth rates.

Related reading: Melbourne Takes Sydney’s Spot as Nation's Weakest Performing Housing Market

_{National Top 20 Building and Population Hotspots}

The country's top hotspot was the Mickleham-Yuroke region in Melbourne’s north-west, where about $223 million worth of residential building work went ahead and the population grew by 35.3 per cent.

Last year’s number one hotspot, Pimpama in Queensland, slipped to second place with a robust rate of population growth of 30.8 per cent and a strong pipeline of approvals worth $352 million during the year.

Plenty of outlying suburbs in Melbourne also saw an increase in growth, with Cranbourne East claiming $638.6 million of new building work and seeing a 27.4 per cent jump in residents, and Wollert recording $173.2 million of new work and a 20.8 per cent rise.

_{Building Momentum Shortlist}

The HIA report also named areas that achieved exceptional growth on their "Building Momentum Shortlist," including Macquarie Park and Homebush in New South Wales, Adelaide, North Melbourne and Murrumba Downs in Queensland.

Related reading: Where are Interstate Migrants Actually Going?

_{Some Potential 'New' Hotspots in Next Year's Report}

The "Potential New Hotspots Shortlist" highlighted areas which had never experienced a residential boom but could soon be expected to experience strong population and building activity growth.

HIA earmarked 38 areas in Victoria, 13 in NSW, four in the ACT and three in Queensland.

These included Pyrmont - Ultimo, Randwick - South, Kogarah, Concord West - North Strathfield, all in New South Wales and Abbotsford in Victoria.

"The improved outlook for economic growth domestically has pushed the anticipated downturn in residential building further out along the forecast horizon.

"This is reflected in a stronger outlook for home building activity over the year ahead."

In previous years, regional areas across Australia have regularly made the list. This year outlying regions have struggled to get a mention due to the impact of diminishing mining projects.