Housing commencements at 211,976: ABS

Housing commencements at 211,976: ABS
Jonathan ChancellorDecember 7, 2020

Building activity held up solid for the June quarter, with a healthy proportion of residential commencements flowing through to completions.

The latest ABS Building Activity data indicated that housing commencements recorded 53,314 starts, which is down 3.2% on the previous quarter, but climbed to 16.9% over the year to post 211,976 commencements.

Multi-unit residential commencements grew to make up 46.2% of the total starts for the year.

The completions activity also continued to carry through, reaching 48,941 for the quarter, to record an annualised 189,239 homes completed in seasonal terms.

Multi-unit residential completions made up 40.8% of the total homes finished over the year.

“The strong numbers of new homes coming through to completion are going to provide additional homes to improve affordability, which has been needed in regions such as Sydney for some time,” said Property Council of Australia’s executive director residential, Nick Proud.

“Multi-units completions leaving the pipeline over the coming six months will be stronger than they historically have been, which is expected to provide options for those looking to buy and rent.

“The commencements have definitely hit a peak, however the completions should sit at these levels for at least another quarter or two as the pipeline of homes gets built”, Mr Proud said.

Jonathan Chancellor

Jonathan Chancellor is one of Australia's most respected property journalists, having been at the top of the game since the early 1980s. Jonathan co-founded the property industry website Property Observer and has written for national and international publications.

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