THE DWELLING CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA RECEIVED A FURTHER BOOST, WITH THE SEPTEMBER QUARTER RECORDING THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF DWELLING CONSTRUCTION APPROVALS SINCE 1988.
Figures published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics today showed that dwelling approvals – a leading indicator of dwelling construction – in WA increased 6.3 per cent over the three months to September to 7,561 homes.
Urban Development Institute of Australia (WA Division) CEO Debra Goostrey said that dwelling approvals have trended upwards in Western Australia since January 2012 on the back of strong population growth and low mortgage rates encouraging investors and first home buyers into the housing market in Perth.
The ABS trend series for Western Australia, which removes monthly variations, is at its highest level since records began 30 years ago and sits 27.4 per cent above levels 12 months ago.
“Declining mortgage rates have been a catalyst, encouraging a lift in investor and first home buyer activity in the state,” said Ms Goostrey.
“Rather than the destabilising price rises we saw in the middle of last decade, the lift in new dwelling prices has been kept in check and this has helped keep the new dwelling market open to the majority of buyers.
“Whilst the median vacant land price in Perth doubled between 2005 and 2007, price rises have been running at 5-6 per cent per annum over the last 12 months.”
Ms Goostrey said that the majority of the increase in dwelling construction in WA has been limited to Greater Perth.
“Dwelling approvals in Greater Perth are 35 per cent above the ten year average, with four out of every five dwellings approved for construction in WA during the past 12 months located within Greater Perth,” said Ms Goostrey.
The most popular locations for dwelling construction in WA over the nine months to September were Baldivis (with an average of 29 new dwelling approvals each week), the Ellenbrook region (21.3 approvals per week), Harrisdale/Piara Waters (19.4), and Yanchep (19.4).
The Urban Development Institute of Australia has analysed over ten years of dwelling approval data across more than 2,500 locations and developed three mediums to navigate this information. Click here for more details.