The Worst Of It Is Over For Builders A lack of skilled workers continues to put pressure on Australia’s housing shortage crisis, according to the Master Builders Association, although Australia’s big builders believe they have come through the worst of it. Master Builders Association CEO, Denita Wawn, says Australia’s economy is still navigating a challenging period.
New home building activity is declining with work starting on only 173,755 new homes during FY2023, a 16.5% drop on the previous year. “In 2023-24 we will see home starts decline by another 2.1% to around 170,100, well below the 200,000 needed per year to meet population growth,” Wawn says. Meanwhile the head of Australia’s largest home construction company believes most of the industry’s biggest builders are now through the worst of the crisis. Metricon chief executive, Brad Duggan says the industry is now on a more even keel. “We see build times getting faster and working through the challenges in the market every day we see ourselves getting back to more normalised programs.”
