18 February 2021

Record detached home starts in 2021 thanks to HomeBuilder

The latest Housing Industry Association’s National and State Outlooks forecast a record level of detached homes will commence construction in 2021.

New detached home construction commencement is forecast to rise to 130,000 in 2021, eclipsing the previous record of 120,000 starts in 2018.

The Outlook also forecasts that detached home starts will rise in every state and territory over the 2020/21 financial year compared to the previous.

Today’s figures are a testament to Australia’s tradies and to the support HomeBuilder has provided the industry as we build our economic comeback from COVID-19 recession.

Every one of the 85,000 HomeBuilder applications received to date represents a signed contract, which means more work in the pipeline, keeping our tradies on the tools and in a job.

According to Treasury, HomeBuilder is now underpinning in excess of $18 billion worth of construction projects at a time when our economy needs it most.

HIA Chief Economist Tim Reardon said HomeBuilder has delivered and has kept Australians employed in the residential construction sector in work across the nation.

“HomeBuilder has delivered. All leading indicators are now show record volumes of detached homes about to commence construction and is occurring in almost every location across Australia.”

“This has not only secured the employment of the 500,000 people employed in detached home construction, it will also absorb tens of thousands of workers from across the rest of the economy.”

“Regional locations in many states are showing a larger increase in activity than capital cities as the population moves away from inner city living.”

The Outlooks also shows demand from first home buyers has been very strong, now accounting for 43 per cent of new home loans.

The Morrison Government believes that all Australians should be able to aspire to own their own home and our tradies are building a stronger Australia in 2021.

There is no denying there are still challenges ahead in our recovery, however our today’s figures again reinforce the fact our economic comeback is well underway.

The Morrison Government will continue to work with the sector as we suppress the virus and deliver the vaccine to cement our economic recovery to create even more jobs.