Coast secure during nationwide decline of new dwellings

Approvals for new dwellings remain steady on the Sunshine Coast despite a nationwide decline, according to council’s latest annual report.

Council recently published its 2016 Annual Highlights Report which presents a selection of statistics, trend analysis and other growth data in the local development market.

The report documents local development activity that took place in 2016 and demonstrates that development on the Coast continues to remain stable.

Planning Portfolio Councillor Christian Dickson said business confidence on the Sunshine Coast in the building and construction industry was “extremely positive right now”.

“Last year the total construction value for new dwellings rose from $648 million in 2015 to $748 million in 2016,” Cr Dickson said.

“Construction value figures in 2016 certainly demonstrated that development is going exceptionally well on the Sunshine Coast.

“The previous year was a record one for new dwelling commencements and this will ensure that the volume of residential building activity remains elevated on the Coast during much of 2017.

“The significance of building activity on the Sunshine Coast is evident by the high percentage of new homes constructed in 2016, contributing to 12% of the overall total value of constructed dwellings across the state.

“For Queensland, the number of dwellings approved fell 2.9% in 2016 and has continued to fall.

“However during the same period, the Sunshine Coast experienced positive growth figures in dwelling construction activity.”

Housing Industry Association Senior Economist Shane Garrett predicts that dwelling commencements nationally are set to decline during 2017.

“We anticipate that actual new home starts will decline nationwide over the next 12 months, with this likely to be felt ‘on the ground’ towards the end of this year,” Mr Garrett said.

“Across Queensland, we forecast that new dwelling commencements are likely to fall by 11.1% during 2017.

“However, short-term indicators for the Sunshine Coast augur quite well. Over the 12 months to November 2016, new dwelling approvals were 2.3% higher than a year earlier and were about 30 per cent higher than their long-term average.

“Growth is particularly strong in the Caloundra and Nambour-Pomena areas, where approvals have increased by 16.0% and 48.4% per cent respectively. This is partly thanks to the role of several greenfield sites including Aura at Caloundra South, Harmony at Palmview and Oceanside at Kawana.

“All in all, 2017 is likely to be a very healthy year for new home building in the Sunshine Coast as the large volume of approvals translates into work on the ground.”

View the 2016 Highlights Report and explanatory note on council’s website along with the Sunshine Coast Building Approvals Heat Map.