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
ADVERTISEMENT
SHARE
print
Print
OtherStaff WriterWed 12 Apr 17

New Units Now Outweigh Houses For First Time On Record

1

Building Activity data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed, for the first time on record, there were more newly built units completed over the December 2016 quarter than houses.

According to the ABS, the number of new dwellings approved for construction recently fell from historically high levels according to the ABS. Its latest building activity data for the December 2016 quarter showed that dwelling commencements and completions were actually higher over the quarter.

Meanwhile, the number of dwellings under construction and the number of dwellings approved but awaiting commencement fell.

Over the December 2016 quarter, 28,690 new houses commenced construction and 27,887 new units commenced construction. While new house commencements were -3.4% lower, new unit commencements increased by 3.9%.

CoreLogic Research Analyst Cameron Kusher said that since the end of 2016, there was a substantial decline in house and unit approvals.

“It’s reasonable to expect that dwelling commencements will follow the lead of approvals and start to trend lower over the coming quarters," he said.

In terms of dwelling completions, 28,102 new houses and 28,527 new units completed construction over the December 2016 quarter, marking the first quarter on record where more new units had been completed than new houses.

New house completions rose by 0.7% over the quarter while new unit completions surged 26.1% to a new record-high.

At the end of the quarter, there were 64,332 new houses under construction and 152,635 new units under construction.

Mr Kusher said there has been little change in the number of houses under construction over recent quarters while new unit construction remains historically high but has begun to fall.

"Interestingly, when you look at the individual state data, the number of new units under construction in New South Wales is continuing to climb to new historic highs while the number under construction in Victoria and Queensland, where concerns around inner city unit supply are more pronounced, is now clearly trending lower," he said.

The ABS results showed that the number of new houses and units approved for construction but not yet commenced, amounted to 9,814 houses and 29,044 units. The number of new houses approved but not commenced increased by 5.0% over the quarter while the number of new units fell by -11.7% from its historic high the previous quarter.

“With dwelling approvals falling significantly from record-high levels since December 2016, it’s reasonable to expect that there will be fewer commencements going forward, particularly for units," Mr Kusher said.

“On the other hand, unit completions could remain high for some time given that there are still many houses and units under construction.”

Data on projects due to commence shows that the number of starts fell in Victoria and Queensland while they continue to trend higher in New South Wales.

“The commencements pull-back in Victoria and Queensland is probably related to unit oversupply concerns in the inner city areas of the state capitals," Mr Kusher said.

“In fact, the rate of growth for units is already dramatically lagging that of houses in Melbourne and Brisbane while the same trends are not evident in Sydney. Clearly we are seeing the market responding to the heightened level of dwelling construction over recent years.”

ResidentialAustraliaConstructionPolicyPlanningPlanningPolicy
AUTHOR
Staff Writer
"TheUrbanDeveloper.com is committed to delivering the latest news, reviews, opinions and insights into the best of urban development from Australia and around the world. "
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 >
Logan Wastewater Funding hero
Infrastructure

Flush of Funding to Deliver 20,000 New SEQ Homes

Phil Bartsch
Stockland's Triniti HERO
Build-to-Rent

Stockland $400m North Ryde BtR Approved on Appeal

Leon Della Bosca
Industrial

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

Lindsay Saunders
The 196ha site at a regional centre slated as a stop on the $31-billion rail megaproject comprises two industrial-zoned …
LATEST
Logan Wastewater Funding hero
Infrastructure

Flush of Funding to Deliver 20,000 New SEQ Homes

Phil Bartsch
3 Min
Stockland's Triniti HERO
Build-to-Rent

Stockland $400m North Ryde BtR Approved on Appeal

Leon Della Bosca
3 Min
Industrial

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

Lindsay Saunders
2 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
View All >
ADVERTISEMENT
Article originally posted at: https://theurbandeveloper.com/articles/new-units-now-outweigh-houses-first-time-record