A recent survey by Master Builders Association of Victoria indicates that economic confidence among Victoria’s builders is at the highest level since 2009.
According to Planning Minister Matthew Guy, Victoria’s residential building sector is seeing massive growth, with multiple indicators showing a strong year ahead.
The Victorian Building & Construction Confidence Report for the March 2014 quarter shows that builders are ‘feeling much more positive about their own business prospects for the next six months, expecting solid improvements in their own business activity’.
The report also reveals that employment prospects look positive, with many builders intending to increase staffing levels over the next six months.
Mr Guy comments that builders can be more confident in the Victorian economy because of a range of positive factors, including record infrastructure investment by the Victorian Coalition Government, and proactive planning reforms that are driving increased opportunities for building activity.
New construction data from the Australian Bureau of Statistic shows that residential building work in Victoria has grown by 6 per cent to $4.1 billion in the March quarter of 2014. The value of new home construction, including houses, units and apartments, grew by a massive 7.5 per cent in the quarter.
Mr Guy said that Melbourne’s builders can rest assured the Napthine Government is working to provide a strong construction sector into the future.
A new housing report also indicates home builders will have a strong year in Melbourne’s outer suburbs. The March 2014 report on Melbourne’s Growth Area Land Market from Oliver Hume Research, reveals that land sales are at their highest monthly level in four years, and 50 per cent above the same period last year.
Mr Guy said the Napthine Government’s planning policies had brought greater competition to the house and land market, resulting in lower prices for new home buyers. The Napthine Government’s strong policy of increasing land supply is now paying dividends for families and first home buyers through lower land prices and more liveable suburbs, through development contribution reforms, by bringing state infrastructure contributions forward, and through community infrastructure grants to growing areas.
The Napthine Government has released over 83,000 housing lots in Melbourne’s growth areas since January 2011, and has committed to releasing another 50,000 lots during 2014.
