ABS building approvals analysed by openlot.com.au show approvals rose in most capitals in FY24 but fell in surrounding regions, with Victoria's regions down 13 per cent. Intrapac CEO Max Shifman, fighting council opposition to a 1,400-lot Gisborne estate, blames rising land costs and depleted zoned-land supply.
As I told the Australian Financial Review: “One of the reasons people went out to the regions was that housing was relatively affordable. But the cost of buying land has gone up and that has pushed a lot more people who wanted to be in the regions out of those areas because they are no longer as affordable,”
I also said: “So it’s as much an affordability as it is an availability issue,”
And I added: “We’re very active in Northern NSW, but we’re still dealing with the recovery from the 2022 floods, which have created capacity issues for building groups,”
I went on to say: “We hope that logic will prevail,”
Australian Financial Review, 28 August 2024 — Read the full article