The latest CoreLogic construction report found that while there has been a 2.8 percent drop in the number of development applications over the previous month, at the same time, this figure is above the five-year average of 1,775. 

According to the report, the total value of these development applications was $17.6 billion, making the combined construction value almost double the five-year average of $9.3 billion, and substantially higher than the $11.2 billion recorded in September.

At the same time, several high value civil engineering projects have pushed up the value of the pipeline to a three-month high. 

The highest value civil engineering development applications were for a wind farm development in Victoria ($1.7 billion), a joint state and federal initiative to upgrade the Perth to Darwin National Highway ($1.1 billion), and the proposal for stage 1 of the Parramatta light rail ($1 billion) in NSW.

CoreLogic analyst Eliza Owen says that, “This is far lower than the five-year average of 1,041 projects per month, but 16.7 percent higher than in the previous month.”

“The construction value of projects that commenced over October also increased, by seven percent on the previous month, to $3.8 billion,” she says.

October also saw the release of several important plans for a number of developments around the country that will influence the future construction landscape, according to the CoreLogic report.

“In the physical building space, the move away from residential is becoming more pronounced in NSW. Major construction events over October centred around commercial and mixed-use precincts,” says Owen.

“Despite ambitious plans for development in New South Wales, Victoria dominated the value of pipeline development applications at $6.2 billion in October,” she says.