“ABS dwelling commencement figures recently released show that Tasmania’s new home building industry outperformed all other states and territories in 2017/18, noted HIA Executive Director, Rick Sassin.
“This was such a strong result for Tasmania.
“Total dwelling commencements in Tasmania increased by 29.4 per cent in 2017/18, the strongest rise among all the states and territories.
“The growth was spread evenly across both the detached house and multi-unit segments of the market – starts in the former category of building were up by 30.3 per cent, while starts for the latter were up by 25.4 per cent.
“While these figures highlight the strong performance of home building in Tasmania in 2017/18, it’s encouraging to see other ABS figures – namely approvals – indicate that there is still a healthy pipeline of new home building activity for the remainder of the current financial year.
“There has been a cooling off in home building across the nation, but conditions in Tasmania remain strong.
“The strength of home building in Tasmania has been a major part of the state’s wider economic success.
“This strength in the industry should not be taken for granted. All governments must continue to support the housing industry and improve on the state’s housing and planning policies to enable ongoing and sustainable growth in Tasmania’s residential building sector and wider economy.
“At this most critical stage of state council elections, all parties need to show Tasmanians how they are reducing red tape and improving planning and building approvals processes to ensure for the continued health of our industry,” concluded Mr Sassin.
Source: HIA