Napthine Government's Building Push Pay-Off

On Wednesday the

Australian Bureau of Statistics released figures showing Victoria's building boom is continuing at a strong pace.

The Construction Work Done figures show that the value of building work, including residential and non-residential building, jumped by 1.0 per cent compared with the previous quarter, to $6.39 billion.

Planning Minister Matthew Guy, said that the Government's strong building policies were responsible.

“Victoria’s building boom shows no signs of abating, the Napthine Government’s strong planning policy has made Victoria’s building sector the strongest of any state," said Minister Matthew Guy.

Over the previous 12 months, the total value increased by 0.7 per cent, to $24.9 billion. This is 10 per cent above New South Wales’ total building value for the same period.

Detached house construction rose 2.1 per cent for the quarter, to $2.06 billion, and was 9.3 per cent higher than the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Non-residential building work jumped 4.0 per cent for the quarter, up to $2.28 billion. The value of non-residential building work for the year to June 2014 jumped by 5.7 per cent compared with the previous year, to a value of $8.87 billion.

“Victoria’s land supply program has been the most successful of any state, releasing 95,000 housing lots in metropolitan Melbourne alone. The strong competition between developers has dropped the median lot price from $225,000 in 2010 to around $191,000 now. This 15 per cent saving has benefited both homebuyers and builders."Zone reforms to residential and commercial zones have provided certainty to both builders and residents, making it clear what can be built where, rather than the anything-goes Melbourne 2030 approach that was previously in place.