NSW Apartment Approvals Fall By 38%

The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows NSW apartment approvals falling by 38% over the last year says the Urban Taskforce.

The apartment market in NSW is slowing fast according to the latest ABS data.” Says Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson “Just over a year ago the annual apartment approvals were 3,848 (September 2017) but the November 2018 figures indicate a drop of 1,470 to a total of 2,378 apartments. This is a fall of 38 per cent in just over a year and it seems that the fall in approvals will continue.”

“Victoria is now well ahead of NSW in housing approvals with 5,439 approvals of all homes in the year to November 2018 compared to NSW’s 4,835 approvals. The population of Victoria, however, is 20 per cent smaller than that of NSW so approvals would also normally be 20 per cent less than NSW but they are now 12.5 per cent higher.”

“The big drop in apartment approvals in NSW has been influenced by anti-development rhetoric from politicians and media in the lead up to the state election in NSW in March this year. Whoever wins the March election will need to implement a housing rescue package to ensure that sufficient new homes are in the planning supply chain to match the growth in population predicted for the state and for metropolitan Sydney.”

“The current negative attitude to new development along with a tightening in lending by the banks is creating a double problem of driving the value of existing homes down dramatically as well as undermining confidence in the new housing construction industry and this is reducing the supply of new homes through the planning system to unsustainable levels.”

“The Urban Taskforce is keen to work with all political parties in the lead up to the state election to ensure that populist rhetoric against development does not lead to major housing supply problems over future years.”

The graphs below are based on the Australian Bureau of Statistics data.