Prices of tradies drop in NSW including carpenters

Building, construction and carpentry prices across NSW dipped last quarter with the website serviceseeking.com.au suggesting it signalled an early indication the housing market may have peaked.

The cost to hire a carpenter decreased by 8.7 per cent compared to the previous quarter, with building and construction prices also down 5.6 per cent.

“We believe the result suggests an impending downturn in the property market. Fewer property owners and investors are undertaking renovations so consumer confidence might not be as strong as it was last year,” says ServiceSeeking.com.au CEO Jeremy Levitt.

“Investors only renovate for a positive return on investment and if that potential is not there they won’t renovate. Our data shows a relative oversupply of tradespeople to current levels of demand resulting in downward pressure on tradie prices.”

Overall, trade services in NSW across eight major categories have fallen 2.5 per cent quarterly to $59.28. When compared to the Consumer Price Index increase of 0.7 per cent quarterly released today, tradies are feeling the pinch even more.

Of the eight categories in the ServiceSeeking.com.au Tradie Price Index, only one recorded an increase: electricians managed to up their prices by 6.6 per cent in the last quarter despite all other sectors recording downturns.

Year-on-year, a 2.1 per cent decrease was recorded across the eight tradie categories.

The prices were derived by comparing a sample of 52,000 quotes submitted during the FY17 Q1 through ServiceSeeking.com.au, the website for getting any job done from tradies to professional services.

To view price changes across eight popular renovation services around the country, including major capital cities, see www.serviceseeking.com.au/renovations