Australia’s government 11,000 homes behind target,
When the federal government revealed the National Housing Accord, it pledged to construct 240,000 new homes annually.
This equates to approximately 20,000 new homes each month, with construction beginning in July 2024.
However, just two months into the National Housing Accord, concerns have arisen regarding its progress.
According to the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA), the federal government “has yet to meet a single National Housing Accord target.”
In August, only 13,991 new dwellings were approved throughout Australia.
This data was provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
This represents a 6.1 percent decrease from the 14,797 dwellings approved in July.
Since the National Housing Accord commenced two months ago, Australia has fallen short of its cumulative housing target.
Specifically, the country is over 11,000 homes short, which equals a significant 30 percent shortfall.
Daniel Wild, the IPA deputy executive director, expressed concern regarding the situation.
He stated, “It is very hard for mainstream Australians to have confidence in the federal government’s plan.”
He added that this skepticism arises from the government’s failure to meet any targets for new dwellings thus far.
However, is this situation entirely negative?
Upon closer examination of the ABS data, some positive trends emerge despite the overall decline in dwelling approvals.
Specifically, approvals for detached houses have actually increased during this time.
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The shortfall was primarily caused by a decrease in high-density apartment approvals throughout August.
Tim Reardon, the chief economist of the Housing Industry Association (HIA), shared insights on the current housing market.
He noted, “House approvals in the three months leading to August 2024 were 11.2 percent higher than during the previous year.”
In his view, market confidence in new home construction has actually “strengthened in recent months.”
This improvement is significant as Australia continues to recover from the post-COVID construction slump.
