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Staff Reporter
Housing construction in Western Australia has rebounded strongly in the past 12 months with increased activity predicted to continue over the next year, according to a new report.
"New residential construction levels are expected to remain relatively steady over the 2013/2014 financial year, which is good news for the industry because this is an important economic driver and employment generator,” WA planning minister John Day said.
The report prepared by the Housing Industry Forecasting Group (HIFG) showed residential dwelling starts in the state were up by 34 per cent compared to last year, with 24,010 new homes beginning construction.
In particular, multi-residential dwellings increased sharply, rising by 58 per cent in the past 12 months.
A majority of construction activity centred on Perth, with 77.6 per cent of new dwellings located in the city.
The HIFG report predicts this level of construction should continue throughout 2013/2014, although it may fall slightly in the following year.
Nonetheless, the HIFG suggests Perth is facing a shortfall in the supply of dwellings.
“At the end of June 2013, estimated underlying demand based solely on demographic factors suggested a shortfall of 28,000 dwellings in Western Australia, with a deficit of 32,500 dwellings in Perth offset by a small surplus of 5,500 in the rest of the state,” the report stated.
Buyer activity also seems to be steadily growing on the west coast.
The number of total loan commitments in Western Australia rose by 16.2 per cent in the three months to August 2013 compared to the same period last year.
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