Housing record hits WA
Residential builders in WA are experiencing one of their busiest-ever periods, with record housing approvals, finance applications and developer sales, according to the Urban Development Institute of Australia.
According to ABS data released today, the value construction in WA's housing sector reached a record high in June.
The value of new homes hit $1.566 billion, while the total for all types of new dwelling construction nudged the two billion dollar mark, coming in at $1.99 billion.
UDIA chief executive Debra Goostrey credited a major influx of new workers to Perth a few years ago for the level of building activity over the past year.
"We saw a spike in migration about three years ago, and these people are looking to buy now," she said.
"They have gone through the rental market and they are at the point where they are looking to build or to buy an established home of their own."
There were 15,510 housing approvals in WA between January and August this year, well above the 13,717 approvals during the same period last year.
In 2012 there were 15,669 across the entire year, only slightly more than the year-to-date figures covering the first eight months of 2014.
UDIA chief executive Debra Goostrey said the 40 biggest developers have also been on a major selling spree during the past two years.
In the first six months of this year, the cohort of developers sold 5087 major development blocks.
This was only slightly down from the record 5605 lots purchased in the first six months of last year.
Both years were well above the traditional average, surpassing the boom years between 2006 and 2010 when lot sales for the first half of the year ranged between 3952 and 4891.
New data shows builders and developers have been busiest in Wanneroo, Swan and Rockingham, which have emerged as the new home hotspots of WA.
The suburbs attracted the greatest share of new dwellings in the year to June, with 3414, 2583 and 2468 properties built in the areas in the twelve months to June respectively.
It is perhaps unsurprising that most of these new lots were in the outer suburbs.
Stirling, 12km from the city, also made the list with more than 2400 new homes. It fits in with plans by the local council to develop the Herdsman and Glendalough areas within is council borders and turn Stirling into a satellite city.
But the State is unlikely to continue developing at the current pace with building and finance approvals falling this month, with Ms Goostrey anticipating a continued cooling over the next year.
Nonetheless, it will still be well above the recent track record, with Australian Bureau of Statistics housing finance data this month showing great demand.
The figures shows that in the 12 months to August, there were 91,943 housing finance applications in WA, the highest since the same period in 2007.
"The development sector is currently running at about 130 per cent of long-term averages, and we think it will drop back to 115 per cent of long-term averages," she said.
"So the sector will continue running above average, even after it drops back a bit."
