Metricon Australia's largest home builder for second year running: HIA

Melbourne-based home-building group Metricon Homes was Australia’s largest builder for the second year in a row, according to the HIA housing 100 report.

The big mover was Hotondo Homes, which jumped from position 20 to position eight on the list, with its number of home build starts increasing from 879 in the 2010-11 financial year to 1,463 in the 2011-12 financial year.

Metricon Homes started construction of 2,821 dwellings in the last financial year, all of which were detached houses in Victoria, NSW, Queensland or South Australia.

The company was followed by Alcock/Brown-Neaves Group, starting construction on 2,736 dwellings in WA and Victoria.

In third place was WA builder BGC Australia, which started 2,692 homes.

Australia’s largest multi-unit builder was Hickory Developments Pty Ltd for the third year running, with 2,163 starts. In overall rankings it moved up one place to number four.

The HIA report ranks the nation’s top 100 residential builders based on the number of homes started each year.

The report found the total number of starts by the top 100 builders fell by 7.3% to 48,130 their lowest level in 15 years.

“This result is consistent with the overall experience of the industry in 2011-12 where new home building conditions weakened considerably across Australia,” says HIA’s Dr Harley Dale.

The number of houses built by the largest 100 builders fell 11% from 40,138 to 35,909. The number of units built grew 4% from 11,720 to 12,221.

The largest 100 builders represented 35% of Australia’s housing starts in the 2011-12 financial year, up slightly from 33% in 2010-11, but below the historical average of 36%.

“The Housing 100 and the entire industry can deliver, and indeed Australia's residents have the requirement for, a considerably higher level of housing starts than has been evident over the last couple of years,” says Dale.

“Within an environment of subdued demand conditions, both unilateral and cooperative policy reform could generate a much healthier year for new home building in 2012-13.

"Sadly, evidence of the will to execute such policy action remains far slimmer than Australia requires,” Dale says.