An increase in new detached house builds and renovation activity in the Australian Capital Territory spells good news for homebuyers and property investors, as multi-unit developments are projected to taper off.

The Housing Industry Association’s latest ACT report was released last week and showed that new dwelling starts had increased by 19.8% during the 2015-2016 financial year. However, a 12.2% decrease is projected for the 2016-2017 financial year, followed by a further contraction of 6.9% in 2017-2018 financial year.
 
Greg Weller, HIA ACT executive director, said that the strong 2015-2016 figures were boosted by a rise in multi-unit starts.

“The detached house market is set to grab a larger slice of new home building output in the ACT over the next few years,” Weller said. According to the ACT report, detached dwelling starts are forecast to increase 58.3% to 1594 this year.

The report also stated that the multi-unit sector had experienced exceptional growth over the last few years and activity was expected to steadily decline. Multi-unit starts are projected to decline by 30.7% in the 2017-2018 financial year, and by a further 15.7% during the 2018-2019 financial year.

“With overall new home building activity forecast to weaken, the renovations side of the market is expected to continue growing and will act as a welcome pillar for residential building.”
 

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