Hotspots Drive Approvals Growth

Building approvals continue to rise and the Housing Industry Association (HIA) says population and economic hotspots are driving the growth in housing demand. During March, building approvals rose 2.6% compared to February and were 14.5% higher than they were last year, according to new ABS data.

"The areas with the strongest population growth are helping to sustain new home building approvals," says Shane Garrett, senior economist for the HIA.

"Population growth is particularly strong in Victoria and Queensland because of their ability to generate lots of new jobs at the moment. These two states have accounted for the lion’s share of growth in building approvals over the past year."

Garret says the last time approvals for detached houses were this high was three years ago in April 2015.

"The upshot of these figures is that new home building activity will remain elevated over the near term," Garrett says.

The ACT saw the largest increase in building approvals compared to last year at a rise of 23%, followed by Victoria at 20% and Queensland at 15%.