Australia experiencing the worst year for home building since 2011
Data from the ABS paints a grim picture for the national target to build 1.2 million new homes
2 min
Building approvals fell again in August, as the Federal Government’s pledge of providing 1.2 million new homes looks more out of reach than ever.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics released data today showing total dwelling approvals fell by 6.1 percent in August to 13,991. While approval for houses rose 0.5 percent, the non house sector — apartments and townhouses — experienced a massive fall of 16.5 percent to 4,418.
Master Builders Australia reported that the latest decline in approvals contributed to 2023-2024 being the worst year for home building in more than a decade.
“Detached house starts fell by 10.1 percent, while higher density commencements were down by 6.0 per cent,” said Master Builders Chief Economist Shane Garrett. “If building continues at this pace, we’ll be in for less than 800,000 new home starts over the next five years.
“This would mean a shortfall of over 400,000 homes compared with the National Housing Accord target.”
Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said the data comes on the back of figures from the National Centre for Vocational Education Research which showed an alarming shortfall in the number of apprentices entering the industry and then completing their qualifications. Apprenticeship commencements fell 11.8 percent in the year to March 2023 while completion rates fell 8.6 percent over the same period.
“Today’s data releases aren’t unrelated,” Ms Wawn said. “To bring Australia out of the housing crisis we need to drastically increase the supply of housing and we can’t do that while we’re simultaneously suffering through a labour shortage.”
She said construction was experiencing a shortage of skilled workers across all trades.
“Until we’re able to address the challenges facing the future of the workforce, we won’t be able to increase building activity and reduce the impact of supply conditions in the residential building market on Australia’s inflation problem,” she said.
Australian shares fell on Thursday as Wall Street weakness, rising oil and persistent rate concerns weighed on most of the market. The S&P/ASX 200 declined 0.72 per cent to 8,702. The All Ordinaries lost 0.66 per cent to finish at 8,897. Mining stocks were hit particularly hard, while real estate also dragged on the index. …
Continue reading “ASX falls 0.7 per cent as miners and property stocks retreat”
Borrowers cannot control the Reserve Bank, but they can control how exposed their household budget is to its next decision. The RBA meets on 29 September with inflation concerns still elevated and major-bank economists increasingly bringing forward their rate-rise calls. Fixed mortgage rates have also been moving, reducing the value of waiting for perfect certainty. …
Continue reading “What mortgage holders should do before the next RBA decision”
A five-bedroom Palo Alto home designed by Steven Ehrlich is listed for $44 million, making it the city’s most expensive listing. Built around a dramatic concrete spine, the home features four courtyards and a pool.
3 min
For years, tech entrepreneur Asher Waldfogel and his wife, Helyn MacLean, dreamed of building a modern house in Palo Alto, Calif.
The couple, however, worried about clashing with the Mediterranean-style architecture typically associated with their neighborhood of Old Palo Alto.
So they tapped architect Steven Ehrlich to create a design that paid homage to its surroundings with stucco, mahogany and titanium zinc cladding. They spent $20 million over several years building the house, completed in 2005.
Now looking to be closer to their adult daughter on the East Coast, they are putting the five-bedroom home on the market for $44 million—the most expensive listing in Palo Alto.
Waldfogel is an angel investor who co-founded Redback Networks, a telecommunications-equipment company. MacLean previously had a career in fundraising.
The couple purchased the roughly 0.4-acre site for $7.1 million in 2000 and demolished a circa-1930s Spanish Colonial home. The house they built pinwheels around a central staircase. It has 7,900 square feet of livable space, with four distinct courtyards and a pool.
A key feature of the home is a cast-in-place concrete wall, or spine, that is two stories high and about 80 feet long. “There’s a little bit of controlled chaos in what comes out of the form,” unlike a perfectly uniform surface, Waldfogel said. “If you want that, you do it in plastic.”
Waldfogel said he and his wife are thinking about the next phase of life now that their daughter is grown, although they have not decided where they will move. They also have a home in Sun Valley, Idaho.
“Right now we’re just trying to emotionally let go and decide what to do next,” he said.
Palo Alto, an epicenter of venture capital and tech startups in Silicon Valley, is home to some of the country’s biggest tech titans. Sales volume and prices are rising, with a median sale price of $3.5 million for the three months ending in August, up 5.8% year-over-year, according to real-estate brokerage Redfin.
Arthur Sharif of Sotheby’s International Realty—San Francisco Brokerage has the listing.
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