UDIA In Action
It was another productive week for the UDIA WA team with the release of the latest edition of our Urban Intelligence report and confirmation of a fantastic expert panel to feature at our first Industry Luncheon for 2021.
On Tuesday UDIA WA CEO Tanya Steinbeck attended an External Stakeholder Reference Group workshop as part of work on the State Infrastructure Strategy. Work on the strategy is progressing at a rapid rate with Tuesday’s workshop focused on brainstorming infrastructure projects (build and non-build) within six key opportunity areas that leverage WA’s comparative strengths in a global context and align to a succinct vision for WA in 2040.
Our policy team are also in the process of preparing a number of submissions, including a response to the draft State Planning Policy 4.2 – Activity Centres and they are keen to hear your feedback. The draft policy aims to ensure planning and development adequately considers the distribution, function and broad land use options for activity centres to meet local community needs, and provide social, economic and environmental benefits to all Western Australians.
For more information, click here and to provide feedback email policy@udiawa.com.au by Friday 5 February.
Stimulus boosts market across Australia
Figures released this week have shown that 11,141 West Australians have already capitalized on the Federal Government’s HomeBuilder grant scheme to build a new home.
The figure puts WA third when compared to the other States and Territories with only Queensland (13,507) and Victoria (17,382) recording more new build applications. Nearly 800 people also applied to undertake renovations in WA, although this figure was a long way short of New South Wales where almost 5,000 people applied for renovations through the scheme.
Across the country more than 75,000 applications have been made to the scheme, with almost 60,000 of these recorded for new builds.
Figures from Federal Treasury estimate the program is supporting $18 billion worth of projects with the cost of the program expected to increase from the anticipated $920 million to almost $2 billion prior to the recently announced three month extension to the end of March, albeit with the grants reduced to $15,000.
A higher than anticipated take up of the scheme was also seen for the WA-based Building Boost scheme which required an additional $30 million injected into it to cover the increased demand from WA home builders.
These two packages have had a large impact on the WA market with recent statistics highlighting how active the development industry in WA is currently.
UDIA WA’s weekly Land Snapshot survey found that across 2020 there were 6,890 sales at an average of 133 lots sales per week which was up 101.6% on the year before and the strongest year of lot sales since 2014.
Added to this, the latest figures from the ABS show that in November the total number of new residential dwelling units approved in WA was 2,315 representing a 100.95% increase YoY. Within this the total number of new houses numbered 2,128, 112.16% up YoY and the number of new apartments numbered 87, 89.13% up YoY.
The Housing Industry Association also recorded December new home sales in WA were up 99.2% compared with December 2019, further highlighting the increased activity in the market that we are experiencing.
While the state-based Building Bonus scheme and the initial tranche of the Federal HomeBuilder scheme may have ended, the packages have generated a pipeline of work set to continue into 2022.
As we look towards what 2021 might hold, UDIA WA is working hard to ensure the development industry is able to keep up with demand as we start preparing our policy priorities for the coming year.
Latest market statistics released
Earlier this week UDIA WA released the latest edition of our Urban Intelligence report which details the key stats and trends impacting the urban development industry each month.
This edition features an interesting article from UDIA WA Director Policy and Research Chris Green providing a round up on what was a dramatic year in 2020 and predicting what we might expect in the year ahead.
From the positive signs initially sighted in January, through the lows when the pandemic first hit to the record land sales following the stimulus packages, 2020 was certainly turbulent but the year finished on a strong note with UDIA’s weekly Land Snapshot recording the strongest year of lot sales since 2014.
To access the latest edition of the Urban Intelligence, click here.
WA’s unemployment figures spark positive end to 2020
Earlier today the ABS released the latest Labour Force statistics that revealed Western Australia continues on its strong recovery from the pandemic.
In the stats released today WA’s unemployment rate fell once again in December to sit at 6.2%, the lowest rate of all states across the country. In another strong indication of WA’s recovery the underemployment rate is 7.7%, down 0.3% on November and again lower than the other states.
Nationally the unemployment rate dropped to 6.6%, a 0.2% drop from the month before but 1.5% higher than the same time in December 2019, while the underemployment rate sat at 8.5%, -0.8% lower than in November and only 0.3% higher than the year before.
CoreLogic Pain and Gain report
This week CoreLogic released its Pain and Gain report for the September 2020 quarter which provides a national overview on the proportion of properties that are selling for a loss or a gain, including an analysis of the performance of houses and units.
This edition of the report found that Nationally, the proportion of resales that made a profit was 88.1% or $24.8 billion in profits, up from 87.2% or $19.8 billion in the June 2020 quarter. However, the amount of losses also deepened on non-profitable sales, from -$885 million in the June quarter to -$1.2 billion in September.
The report found that the portion of profit-making sales increased more rapidly across the regions than capitals and that that there was generally a higher rate of return for houses than units.
For more information and to download the report in full, click here.
Opportunity to highlight your project
UDIA are in the process of compiling the next edition of our National UDIA EnviroDevelopment Newsletter and we are on the lookout for significant projects to highlight in this edition.
The EnviroDevelopment Newsletter helps you stay across global issues and innovations, policy news, case studies, and new certifications from around the country.
If you would like your project to be considered for inclusion as an exemplary case study, get in touch with Taylor Hood, UDIA’s National EnviroDevelopment Manager on thood@udiaqld.com.au.