AHB Group has maintained its position as the second-largest builder in Victoria for the fourth consecutive year, recording an astounding 2,405 site starts for the 2023/24 FY, a 6% increase compared to the previous financial year.

According to the HIA-COLORBOND Steel Housing 100 Report, the company is also the sixth-largest nationally and one of only two companies within the top six to operate in a single state, as well as the fourth-largest nationally in terms of detached housing.

AHB Group, founded by Pasquale Garofalo and Charles Agius in 2005, is made up of seven sub-brands and operates in both metro and regional Victoria.

Of the 2,405 new site starts, almost 50% of them represent Sherridon Homes, which remains AHB Group’s strongest company across Victoria, with the remainder spanning Royston Homes, Marque Property Group, Soho Living, First Place and Evo Homes.

Despite a market slowdown due to the rise of interest rates, AHB Group recorded its strongest year to date in business with a revenue growth of 37% for FY23/24 and a notable 245% increase from FY20.

To help with customer confidence following a tumultuous few years for the home building industry, AHB Group increased its insurance facility with VMIA by 80% to $1.2B.

“Increasing our insurance facility not only gave our customers confidence, it also enabled us to take on higher volumes of site starts,” says Garofalo.

“Our team has been working incredibly hard over the past 12 months so it is great to see our name as the second largest builder in the state for the fourth year, just shy of first position.

“It has been a challenging time for the sector but we are witnessing more stability return to the market; conditions have certainly improved from where we were this time last year, and the cost of materials is not rising at the rates we have seen in the past few years. Additionally, households have a lot more confidence about interest rates coming down within the next six to 12 months.”

Pivotal to AHB Group’s success is its focus on diversification, ensuring it caters to multiple sectors within the residential market including first-home buyers, investors, luxury family homes, as well as townhouse developments and medium-density development.

Sherridon Homes also continues to dominate regionally, opening its sixth regional office this month in Bairnsdale, with Shepparton earmarked for next month and another two locations brewing.

Earlier this month, Sherridon Homes Elmont 32 display home was awarded its fifth award, a functional and stylish home that remains one of the brand’s most sought-after across metro and regional Victoria.

According to the HIA Report, there were 53,745 site starts recorded across Victoria in 2023/24.
Looking ahead, AHB Group will continue to diversify into other segments of the market including land lease builds, warehousing, land subdivisions, co-building with land developers and agents and continuing to grow its affordable homes component of the business.

Image: Supplied

Clémence Carayol

AHB-Group-remains-Victoria-second-largest-builder-1732001156.png

Let’s connect!