Perth heads for rental shortage
Unit approvals continued to decline, down to a total of just 4,206 in August, with further trend declines in Sydney, but Brisbane now bottoming out after a 4-year slowing of supply.
Only Melbourne is still really going for it in terms of unit approvals and supply, perhaps anticipating a strong market rebound in 2021.
Houses approvals are now likely to be supported by the generous HomeBuilder package and other stimulus measures.
Approvals for houses are flat over the year, with strength again in building approvals most evident in Melbourne.
Annual approvals across Australia have now bounced off the lows to 173,000 over the year to August 2020, but remain 29 per cent below the 2016 peaks (when annual approvals were close to 243,000).
A final observation is to take note of Perth: after half a decade of dwindling supply the city is now potentially heading for a dramatic rental shortage, and perhaps even a rental crisis, with open homes for rentals reportedly packed out.
We'll be discussing this further in our forthcoming BuyersBuyers.com.au webinar for Perth and Western Australia.
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Further and more in-depth analysis as always from data whizz James Foster here.
