Thursday, 4 April 2024

Dwelling approvals sink to decade lows

Building approvals sink

The value of new residential building approved in February fell by nearly -20 per cent. 

Land taxes, red tape, higher interest rates, tight lending assessment buffers, rising construction costs, and next surging rates are all working together to stymy new housing supply.


Attached dwelling approvals fell by -25 per cent in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, and are trending quite sharply lower in Greater Sydney, Melbourne, and now Brisbane.

Only the Gold Coast really seems to be thriving for new unit supply, driven by premium developments, highly sought-after water views, and a proliferation of downsizers and cash buyers. 


For detached housing, Perth alone is booming, and Melbourne at least appears to have put in a bottom for the cycle now.


Overall it was another pretty miserable month, with only around 12,500 dwellings approved nationwide, and the downtrend appears to be picking up some pace. 

Overall, only 162,000 dwellings have been approved over the past year, the lowest level in 131 months.


After accounting for demolitions, this is obviously nowhere near enough.

Next up in the Budget the government will likely announce further details on tax incentives for real estate developers and managers with tens of billions of dollars in assets under management to build large build-to-rent towers for the income streams (perhaps also to be funded in part through superannuation funds). 

Corporate landlord-developers are finding Melbourne the most fruitful place to get BTR projects approved, then south-east Queensland.

Sydney appears to be far less amenable for corporate-owned residential towers - land values are higher, and the planning restrictions around the space seem far tighter. 

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James Foster ran through the key details here.

In other news, it was heartening to see inflation in the Eurozone fall to 2.4 per cent in March, while the UK is also down sharply to 3.4 per cent in February (from 4 per cent in the preceding month). 


Interest rate cuts for Europe look to be ahead.

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