Building permit activity in Victoria reached $24.3 billion in the 2010-11 financial, an increase of two per cent over the previous year.

Building Commission pulse data released this week by the Deputy Building Commissioner, Peter Donald, showed that the value of building permits issued in Victoria during 2010-11 rose in every building use category except Domestic (housing), which was steady on the previous financial year, and Public Buildings, which declined 35 per cent, in line with the winding back of Government stimulus programs.

“The value of Residential (including high rise apartments) building permits finished the 2010-11 financial year 70 per cent higher than 2009-10, and the number of Residential building permits rose 42 per cent,” Donald said.

“Overall, while the value of building permits rose in 2010-11, the number reported was six per cent lower than in 2009-10, which indicates that the past year was punctuated with some very large building permits which will flow through to building industry activity.”

By building use, the value of building permits in the 2010-11 financial year compared to the 2009-10 financial year show:

  • Domestic (housing) was steady at $13.1 billion
  • Residential (including high rise) surged 70 per cent to $3.4 billion
  • Commercial increased 3 per cent to $2.7 billion
  • Retail jumped 18 per cent to $1.3 billion
  • Industrial rose 10 per cent to $451 million
  • Hospital/Healthcare increased 8 per cent to $839 million
  • Public Buildings declined 35 per cent to $2.6 billion.

On a regional basis, Metropolitan rose six per cent in the past financial year compared to the previous financial year, with Inner Melbourne rising 12 per cent and Outer Melbourne lifting 0.5 per cent. Rural overall decreased 13 per cent:

  • Inner Melbourne rose 12 per cent to $10 billion
  • Outer Melbourne rose 0.5 per cent to $9.3 billion
  • Gippsland declined 9 per cent to $1 billion
  • North Central decreased 12 per cent to $952 million
  • North East fell 18 per cent to $784 million
  • North West was down 16 per cent to $815 million
  • South West fell 10 per cent to $1.5 billion.

Donald said the pulse building permit activity data for the 2010-11 financial year also showed there had been changes to the make-up of the Top 10 municipalities in both Metropolitan Melbourne and Rural Victoria.

In the Metropolitan region, Melbourne, Wyndham and Whittlesea retained the top three spots from the previous financial year. In the Rural region, Greater Geelong retained the number one position, while Greater Bendigo and Ballarat exchanged placings to number two and number three respectively compared with 2009-10.

The Building Commission collects Victorian building information monthly from building surveyors who provide details of building permits they issue.